Expert Assistance Program
The Melbourne 2030 Activity Centres Expert Assistance Program (EAP) was launched in June 2007 to assist councils to more effectively drive growth and change in activity centres. The program provides specialist expert advice to assist councils to finalise and implement structure plans for principal, major and specialised activity centres in metropolitan Melbourne.
Opening of Program for 2009-10
The 2007-08 State Budget provided $3 million over two years for the program. A further $1.5 million has been allocated to the program for 2009-10. Applications for assistance are now being sought.
EAP 2009-10 Brochure (PDF - 310 KB)
EAP 2009-10 Brochure (DOC - 71 KB)
The EAP program for 2009-10 was opened on 15 July 2009 in conjunction with the Creating Better Places program. EAP presentations from the launch are available below:
EAP Program Launch Presentation 2009 (PDF - 451 KB) EAP Program Launch Presentation 2009 (DOC - 55 KB)
The Cranbourne Experience - EAP (PDF - 1.3 MB) The Cranbourne Experience - EAP (DOC - 40 KB)
Scope of EAP
The program is specifically aimed to assist councils that are ready and willing to finalise their structure plans and to assist them to achieve implementation of activity centre policy in the short term - delivering a mix of uses, increasing housing density and diversity, and increasing services and employment opportunities within a centre.
Availability of Assistance
Assistance is now available from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010. It is recommended that councils commence discussions early with the Program Manager to ensure funds are available.
Metropolitan Councils are eligible to apply for assistance for their Principal, Major and Specialised Activity centres where they have commenced structure planning for the centre.
Applications for Assistance
The program is not subject to a traditional grants application process. A flexible and responsive program has been designed to provide councils with the appropriate and prompt expertise to ensure that progress in delivering outcomes in the activity centre can be made.
Councils need to contact the Program Manager and discuss their requirements. An application form will need to be submitted by Council EAP Application Form (DOC - 94 KB)
Following agreement on the best way to progress assistance, Councils will work with the Program Manager to develop a brief for the project. The Department will then seek advice from its Panel of Experts (see below) on behalf of Council. Council will manage the day to day project management.
Types of expert assistance available
The type of advice will vary for each council and depend on the level of strategic planning already completed and the particular skills or expertise required to progress the structure plan to the implementation stage.
A Panel of Experts has been appointed to provide specialist technical and expert advice. The Panel includes experts in:
Provision of advice to date
Over 60 projects have been supported to date through the program. These have ranged in size and scope across 17 activity centres and 13 municipalities.
A key objective of the program is to provide knowledge and expertise that may be of assistance to councils in other centres.
EAP Funded Projects Report (XLS - 172 KB)As reports are finalised, links will be provided to the reports (where suitable). Learnings can also be provided by the EAP Program Manager or the relevant council representative. Please contact the EAP Program Manager for more information.
Six Targeted Activity Centres
The first two years of the program saw six activity centres benefit from targeted assistance under the Expert Assistance Program. These centres were Coburg, Cranbourne, Knox Central, Moonee Ponds, Chirnside Park, and Preston. The centres were chosen because they are 'development ready' and would benefit from funding to help them achieve their development outcomes in the short term. These six activity centres have shared in $1.5million over two years.
Final Program Evaluation 2008
SGS Economics & Planning (SGS) was commissioned by the DPCD in late 2008 to evaluate the Creating Better Places (CBP) and the Expert Assistance Programs (EAP). The evaluation concluded that CBP and EAP are crucial to the successful implementation of Melbourne 2030 and are efficient from a socio-economic perspective. That is, the triple bottom line benefits, although they accrue over a long term horizon, are likely to significantly outweigh the costs, as the programs bring forward higher quality and more intensive activity centre development.
The analysis highlighted that the financial impacts of the programs on Government are limited to program funding. On the other hand, the socio-economic implications are much more widely distributed and are likely to engender triple bottom line benefits that outweigh the costs by a factor of 3. Finally, the analysis also highlighted that place based intervention and grant funding best practice is well incorporated into the design and delivery of the programs.
The evaluation also provided a number of recommendations, which will be incorporated into any possible extension of these funding programs.
Further information
You may contact the EAP Project Manager via email: expert.assistance@dpcd.vic.gov.au or phone (03) 8644 8831.
Please note: Document(s) on this page are presented in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, you can download a copy free from the Adobe web site.
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