LODDON MALLEE NORTH REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN September 2013 (Final draft for consideration by councils) Published by the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, 1 Spring Street Melbourne Vic 3000, September 2013. © Copyright State of Victoria Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure 2013. Except for any logos, emblems, trademarks, artwork and photography this document is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. Print managed by Finsbury Green Printed on 100% recycled paper Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequences which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i 12. Environment and heritage 25 12.1 Environmental and heritage assets 27 PART A INTRODUCTION 1 12.2 Natural hazards and risks 30 13. Living in the region 32 1. What is a regional growth plan? 1 13.1 Loddon Mallee North settlement 32 2. Why we need this plan 3 13.2 Mallee community of interest 36 3. How this plan will be used 3 13.3 Campaspe community of interest 39 13.4 Eastern Mallee community of interest 41 4. How the plan was prepared 4 13.5 Gannawarra community of interest 43 5. Components of this plan 5 13.6 Buloke community of interest 45 PART B REGIONAL OVERVIEW 7 14. Regional infrastructure 46 14.1 Transport networks 46 6. Snapshot of the region 7 14.2 Social infrastructure 51 7. Drivers of change 14 14.3 Water, energy and utilities 54 8. Challenges for growth 15 PART D REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN 59 9. Vision for the region 16 15. Future directions for regional growth 59 10. Principles to achieve the vision 17 PART C TOWARDS THE REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN PART E DELIVERING REGIONAL GROWTH 65 (REGIONAL LAND USE FRAMEWORK) 19 16. Implementation 65 11. Regional economy 19 11.1 Building on economic strengths 21 11.2 Agriculture 23 Regional Growth Plan LODDON MALLEE NORTH CONTENTS GLOSSARY Tables Aboriginal cultural heritage: means Aboriginal places, Aboriginal objects and Table 1: Population projections 9 Aboriginal human remains. They tell the story of Aboriginal use and occupation of Table 2: Actions 67 the land. An Aboriginal place can be an area of land or water, a natural feature, formation or landscape, an archaeological site, as well as a building or structure. Aboriginal cultural heritage also includes intangible places where there may be no physical evidence of past cultural activities. These include places of spiritual or Maps ceremonial significance, places where traditional plant or mineral resources occur, or trade and travel routes. Map 1: The eight regional growth plans 2 Map 2: Loddon Mallee North region 5 Bioenergy: energy generated from organic matter, such as agricultural waste. Map 3: Loddon Mallee North – links to surrounding regions 8 Biofuels: biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels derived from biomass. Map 4: Loddon Mallee North strategic assets 13 Biomass: Biomass includes agricultural residues and waste products, forestry residues, organic wastes, purpose-grown energy crops, woody weeds, algae Map 5: Economic future directions 20 and biodegradable municipal waste streams. Map 6: Environmental future directions 26 Carbon farming: a method of allowing farmers and land managers to earn Map 7: Loddon Mallee North settlement framework 34 carbon credits by storing carbon or reducing greenhouse gas emissions on Map 8: Urban growth framework for Mildura 37 the land. Map 9: Urban growth framework for Echuca 40 Central Business District (CBD): the area comprising the core commercial, civic and community functions of a town. Map 10: Urban growth framework for Swan Hill 42 Community of interest: a group of settlements that have strong functional social and Map 11: Future directions for transport 48 economic interrelationships and/or share facilities and services. They are not strictly Map 12: Loddon Mallee North regional growth plan 63 defined by geography. Cultural heritage: captures both Aboriginal heritage and post-European historic heritage. Earth resources: these comprise minerals, petroleum, extractive and geothermal industries. Environmental asset: a tangible bio-physical element of the environment such as terrestrial habitat, waterways, significant landscapes and soil. Environmental value: the attributes of an environmental asset that make it valuable or important based on environmental, social or economic values, including ecosystem services, such as nutrient filtration, research and education, intrinsic and amenity value. Extractive Industry Interest Area (EIIA): identified areas around major centres in Victoria where it is possible that a quarry could be placed within defined constraints. Regional Growth Plan LODDON MALLEE NORTH GLOSSARY Food bowl: Greater Shepparton, Moira, Swan Hill, Campaspe, Gannawarra, Mildura Nature-based tourism: any activity that relies on experiences directly related to and Loddon councils all form part of Victoria’s food bowl, which specialises in natural attractions including ecotourism, adventure tourism, wildlife tourism and irrigation-based industries, including dairy, horticulture and viticulture, as well as dry extractive tourism, for example, fishing or gold panning. land farming operations and agriculture-related industries, such as food processing, Natural hazard: a naturally occurring source of potential harm or a situation with the packaging and transport. potential to cause loss, for example, bushfire, flood, heatwave or coastal storm surge. Freight and logistics precincts: places where large volumes of freight are Natural resources: naturally occurring commodities such as oil, gas, minerals, received, stored and dispatched. These precincts may support port, airport or rail fisheries, timber or places of solar and geothermal energy potential. and road intermodal terminals and may include manufacturing activity, warehouses and distribution centres within the broader precinct of complementary freight Overlays: planning scheme provisions generally related to a particular issue, such and freight-related activities. as heritage or flooding. Greenfield land: non-urban land designated for future urban development. Planning scheme: policies and provisions for the use, development and protection of land, prepared by councils or the Minister for Planning. Higher order services: services that are only provided in a limited number of locations and have a large catchment area, such as a university or department store. Regional cities: are the 10 largest cities outside metropolitan Melbourne (Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Horsham, Latrobe, Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool, Wangaratta Historic heritage: refers to the fabric of our past that we value today and includes and Wodonga). The 10 relevant municipalities are represented by the Regional Cities archaeological sites, buildings and precincts, structures, gardens, trees, cemeteries, Victoria group and together advocate a whole-of-government approach to delivering cultural landscapes, shipwrecks and significant objects and artefacts. services and infrastructure. Housing diversity: the provision of a range of different housing types to suit different Rural areas: include areas outside urban areas. They can include farming and ages, lifestyles and incomes. non-farming land uses, such as rural residential, extractive industry, and open space. Industry/agricultural clusters: geographic concentration of industrial or agricultural In some cases rural areas may include very small rural settlements. businesses and activities that relate to each other or work together. Rural land use: a broad term representing the use of land outside urban areas and Infill development: the development of additional dwellings in established includes activities such as agriculture, rural living, forestry and extractive industry. urban areas. Rural living: land in a rural setting, which is used and developed for dwellings that Intensive agriculture: land used to intensively produce agricultural products through are not primarily associated with farming. ventures such as poultry farms, piggeries, feedlots, aquaculture, hydroponics, Sensitive uses: land uses that have high amenity expectations such as housing, greenhouses and glasshouses. This includes ‘intensive animal husbandry’ and intensive schools or hospitals. ‘crop raising’ as defined in planning schemes. Social infrastructure: includes community facilities, services, and networks that help Living Murray Icon sites: the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council’s Living communities meet their social needs and maximise their potential wellbeing, such as, Murray program identified six priority Icon sites that will benefit from improved water sports and recreation facilities, schools and hospitals. management regimes. The sites have ecological, economic, cultural and heritage significance to Aboriginal people and to the whole community but have historically Terrestrial habitats: are combinations of biological and physical features of the been subject to negative impacts from river regulation. Four icon sites are located landscape (including native vegetation, fallen timber and litter, soil, rocks, etc) that in Loddon Mallee North: Gunbower-Koondrook-Perricoota Forest; Hattah Lakes; enable populations of each native plant or animal species (or group of species)