PREMIER John Brumby is set to unveil a multimillion-dollar plan that will give regional councils more power to cope with population growth and throw a lifeline to small rural towns, in an election-year bid to reassert Labor's credentials in the bush.
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While Melbourne's population is expected to surge over the next few decades, government figures suggest regional Victoria will also grow by 500,000 people by 2036 - with half that growth to be centred in the provincial cities of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.
In a bid to cope with the increase, the government is preparing a ''regional blueprint'' that will, for the first time, give councils clear directions on how to plan for more people and provide country Victoria with millions of dollars in extra funding to help create jobs, improve transport links and boost access to basic services such as education and health.
The blueprint will be released in June - five months before the November 27 election, where issues such as water, climate change and the bushfires are likely to be important.
Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan declined to comment on specific details, but said the blueprint's key focus was ''making sure we keep attracting jobs and investment, supporting the development of infrastructure that regional communities need (and) making sure we're providing more opportunities for people to study in regional Victoria''.
It is expected that the plan will include:
■ More funding to continue the state's Regional Infrastructure Development Fund, which over the past 10 years has been used to finance anything from performing arts centres to road upgrades.
■ Improved bus services and other transport links to connect small towns with neighbouring regional cities.
■ A new planning framework whereby councils create ''regional plans'' spelling out their infrastructure and service priorities, which will be used to leverage more funding from the government and ensure there is adequate land supply for new homes and industry.
■ Better access and improved transport links to regional universities and TAFE colleges, to encourage young country people to study closer to home.
■ More support to improve regional broadband.
The plan comes as the battle for the bush intensifies ahead of the November poll. While Labor won the bush from the Kennett Government in 1999, a decade later, critics claim the tide is turning.
''There is no doubt the government is on the nose in country Victoria,'' said Nationals leader Peter Ryan, citing anger around issues such as the north-south pipeline and desalination as key examples of voter discontent.
Mr Ryan also questioned why the government had not yet spent all the money available from its $611 million Regional Infrastructure Development Fund, despite the fact that many country towns could have used the help.
Figures obtained by The Nationals under Freedom of Information suggest that, by the end of last year, only $410 million of funds had been spent.
Ms Allan promised all funds would be ''committed'' by June 30. She said the blueprint aimed to strike a balance between coping with population growth and encouraging more people to move from Melbourne to the country while, at the same time, protecting the characteristics of regional cities and towns.
