Infrastructure Victoria's Dr Jonathan Spear proposed changes for more infill

Infrastructure Victoria has released its new findings arguing more needs to be done to build attached and low-rise buildings in areas closer to essential services like public transport, schools and health facilities.

The report, released on Tuesday, found one in four people would be willing to live in a smaller home closer to existing infrastructure if they could find something at a similar price point to a bigger home in a new suburb.

It classified townhouses, terrace houses and apartment buildings under four storeys as medium density and takes into account responses from 6000 participants of which 300 were from Ballarat.

Nine proposals have been put forward for the state government to consider, which Infrastructure Victoria argues will give people more choice when it comes to deciding on where to live and will make it easier to build infill properties.

In Ballarat the council has been committed to creating a 50/50 split between new houses in new suburbs and new home options in established suburbs since 2015.

Even with a questionable yardstick used by the city's planning department - a technicality means many newbuilds on greenfield sites are counted as infill - the proportion is still much lower than the 50/50 goal.

Melbourne and Geelong are also not meeting the balance intended by their respective councils.

Infrastructure Victoria's chief executive Dr Jonathan Spear said changes needed to be made if we wanted to keep up with infrastructure demands.

"People need to be given more choice to live in well-designed townhouses and low-rise apartments in established suburbs," he said.

"That is part of the key to unlocking the ambition of those planning aspirations."

Town planning experts have previously told The Courier infill would be needed as the city continued to grow.

The trend has been driven by market demand and more infill developments have been put forward for council approval.

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This would include completed projects like the Nightingale apartments on Davey Street, Ballarat Central and proposed projects like 37 townhouses on Sim Street, Black Hill or 30 homes on York Street, Ballarat East.

Smaller projects have also passed by council, multiple Gregory Street applications in Lake Wendouree or Scott Parade in Brown Hill.

Infrastructure Victoria argues there are roadblocks within the house buying system that is drawing people away from inner-city living.

Dr Spear said "there is an opportunity" to slow down the pressures on infrastructure in the newer suburbs and "make better use of the infrastructure that's already established".

"What we're not saying is that we should take our eye off the ball of delivering infrastructure to greenfield areas," he said.

"Rather we're saying we can do a number of good things that we all want to aim for and provide people with a choice." The report outlines the top three priorities in the short-term. These include reforming infrastructure contributions which Dr Spear said "no one is happy with".

Reform would include clearer reporting on how the contributions are raised and spent.

The report recommends removing the First Home Owner Grant in favour of the Home Equity Scheme where the government co-invests in a property.

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Also a high-priority is to "offer local governments incentives to meet targets".

There are six other proposals including reforming stamp duties, streamlining approvals, creating better standards and reducing compulsory parking requirements.

While the recommendations ask for "better visual guidance" when it comes to infill, this could differ according to different city based context.

It doesn't address heritage considerations which are often an extra consideration developers must plan for when documents are submitted in Ballarat.

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