Residential land

It is expected that outward pressure from the Melbourne metropolitan area, the location of the Shire on one of the State’s major regional transport corridors and proximity to the regional centres of Ballarat and Geelong will continue to reinforce the advantages of the Shire as a place to live, work and invest.

The Shire’s overall strategy is to encourage and support further planned population growth. Council seeks to provide for and manage that growth with a strong focus on development in existing urban areas, particularly Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, and to foster the future development of Gordon based on enhanced services. Long term residential strategies have been prepared for Bacchus Marsh and Ballan to cater for the anticipated increased population over the next 25 years.

Key residential strategic directions

Settlement (including housing and infrastructure)

• Manage future urban growth and residential development so as to maintain the attractive provincial setting and lifestyle and provide adequate services and facilities
• Promote and facilitate an increased rate of population growth in the Shire based on planned and managed urban development in accordance with the appropriate provision of infrastructure
• Implement a Development Contributions Plan to support the provision of appropriate social and physical infrastructure
• Establish a set of development principles for incorporation into the Moorabool
• Planning scheme which guides issues such as social amenity, services and infrastructure provision, street and subdivision layout and sustainable transport strategies and respects township characters
• Maintain the open rural landscape between the Shire’s eastern boundary and Bacchus Marsh as a visual buffer to metropolitan Melbourne
• Ensure a clear separation between urban development and farming activities
• Give strong attention to environmental values
• Ensure high quality design outcomes in land use planning activities
• Implement a staged release of residential land in accord with adopted strategies
• Provide for planned residential/rural living development subject to study to be undertaken to implement the new rural zones appropriately
• Support the development and facilitation of increased residential choices and capacity to meet differing household needs and lifestyle requirements
• Support the development and facilitation of increased levels of integrated public transport provision and services to meet the growing needs of the Shire’s communities
• Improve the links between communities and the links to destinations outside the Shire
• Support the health and well-being of Moorabool communities through the provision of high quality social and recreation facilities and services underpinned by effective engagement strategies
  

Urban consolidation

• Consolidate urban development in and around existing and strategically planned infrastructure
• Focus population growth in Bacchus Marsh with supporting development in Ballan and Gordon
• Increase the opportunities for well planned, high quality, high amenity, medium density housing in and around existing town centres
• Clearly define the boundaries of townships to maintain their setting in a rural or bushland landscape and in the case of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and Gordon this will take the form of a defined urban growth boundary that clearly separates urban areas from adjoining rural land uses and environmental features. This Boundary can only be altered through an amendment to the planning scheme. In the case of Bacchus Marsh no adjustments to the residential zone boundary where it adjoins land used for horticultural purposes will be made
• Accommodate future residential development through the staged release of land based on detailed structure planning as a prerequisite for any subsequent rezoning
• Manage urban change and growth based on limiting the ultimate size of settlements and providing a ‘hard edge’ to urban development
• Ensure that existing reserves of zoned residential land, including potential infill development, are substantially developed prior to rezoning any more rural land or bushland areas for urban purposes