20-Minute City is more than just a grouping of 20-minute neighbourhoods.

The Neighbourhood Pulses highlight the need to concentrate activity in certain parts of the city to create urban places in Wyndham to support the suburbs.

The Neighbourhood Pulses also need to be supported by a central urban location that is capable of servicing the whole of Wyndham and its future population of approximately 500,000 people.

We call this central urban location City Heart. Spatially, Wyndham needs a City Heart to provide a lifeblood to its Neighbourhood Pulses.

Neighbourhood Pulses need a City Heart

Every city needs a heart. A city heart that is vibrant, people friendly and diverse in its make-up and functions. A city heart that connects us all. A city heart comprising different precincts or parts which are seamlessly connected to one another by walking, cycling, e-transport (e-scooters/e-bikes) and public transport services. A city heart that expands the experiences and opportunities available to the community. Wyndham needs a city heart – a place to connect, congregate and celebrate.

Currently the activity centres along the Werribee Metro rail spine from Werribee in the west to Williams Landing in the east compete with one another rather than offering different experiences and opportunities.

Werribee National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC)

The area of the City Heart embraces the five major activity centres that combine to create the Werribee National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC).

As identified in the Draft Western Metro Land Use Framework Plan, the Werribee NEIC (below), is a major employment and knowledge intensive cluster with various health and education institutions and a range of high-tech research companies in the food and agricultural industries. It currently provides around 8400 jobs but has potential for more than 50,000 jobs in health, education and high technology research.

A total of 106 hectares of future commercial land is identified within the Werribee NEIC, which represents 19 per cent of the region’s identified future commercial land (DELWP, 2020). This underlines the importance of the NEIC in the provision of future jobs for the region. The NEIC can continue to build on its existing assets by maximising opportunities presented by the significant availability of land for future commercial and industrial purposes.