SUMMARY This Document Is a Summary of the Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan
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SUMMARY This document is a summary of the Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan. The full plan is available at www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/regionalgrowthplans Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne Printed by Finsbury Green, Melbourne If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, please telephone 1300 366 356. This document is also available in Word format at www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/regionalgrowthplans Unless indicated otherwise, this work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. To view a copy of the licence, visit creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/au It is a condition of this Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence that you must give credit to the original author who is the State of Victoria. 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 consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. May 2014 CONTENTS MINISTER'S MESSAGE i WHY WE NEED A PLAN 1 STATE OF CITIES 2 SNAPSHOT OF CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 3 VISION AND PRINCIPLES FOR CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 5 ABOUT CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 6 THE REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN MAP 7 WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES? 9 LIVING IN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 10 KEY TOWNS – FUTURE PLANS OVER THE NEXT 20-30 YEARS 11 REGIONAL ECONOMY 13 ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE 14 REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE 15 DELIVERING REGIONAL GROWTH 16 FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION 18 i CENTRAL HIGHLANDS REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN SUMMARY MINISTER'S MESSAGE In order to accommodate this growth, provide lifestyle choice and share job opportunities, we need to become a ‘state of cities’. In developing these growth plans, councils have worked with their regional counterparts and the State Government to identify key environmental, cultural, recreational, economic, tourism and natural resources of value, which will be preserved, maintained or developed. The work has already assisted councils in providing strategic information and mapping. The plans will In 2011 the Victorian Government, through the deliver immediate outcomes, while also providing $17.2 million Regional Centres of the Future Program, a planning framework to assist rural and regional advanced work across the state to support councils, councils to plan for population growth and ensure communities and government authorities in planning long-term regional land supply. for the future growth of their regions. The regional growth plans will be key instruments The Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan is one in helping to identify future infrastructure investment of eight prepared across the state to help guide a needs to support local education and health services coordinated regional response to population growth and employment opportunities. and regional change over the next 30 years. I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to In the May budget I announced a commitment the development of the Central Highlands Regional of $12.3 million for regional Victoria towards the Growth Plan including our local government implementation of regional growth plans and partners and the Project Steering Committee that continuation of the Rural Council Planning Flying put the plan together. I look forward to the plan Squad that plays such a valued role in assisting helping to shape a more prosperous future for councils with major projects, developments and the region. statutory planning support. Victoria’s population has been projected to grow by around three million people between 2011 and 2041. It is projected that 20 to 25 per cent of that growth will be in regional Victoria – more than double the The Hon Matthew Guy MLC amount of growth over the previous 30 years. Minister for Planning CENTRAL HIGHLANDS REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN summary i WHY WE NEED A PLAN The Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan “The Central Highlands Regional has been developed over two years in partnership between local government and state agencies and Growth Plan provides a vision authorities. The plan covers the municipal areas of for long-term prosperity and Ararat, Ballarat, Hepburn, Moorabool, Pyrenees and part of Golden Plains. sustainable growth.” The region is forecast to experience ongoing The Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan: population growth that needs to be carefully • establishes a framework for strategic land use managed to ensure desirable social, and settlement planning that can sustainably economic and environmental outcomes. accommodate growth The plan considers a range of land uses • identifies important economic, environmental, including agriculture, tourism, environmental social and cultural resources to be preserved, assets, commercial and residential. It recommends maintained or developed checks and balances that need to be applied when • provides direction for accommodating growth considering future growth. and change including residential, employment, industrial, commercial, agricultural and other As areas change over time infrastructure and rural activities service needs also change. Long-term planning is the best way to ensure these needs are met. A • shows which areas of land can accommodate regional approach to planning enables coordinated growth and which are to be maintained for responses across municipal borders. other uses • identifies opportunities for supporting regional The plan’s key land use planning directions will be level infrastructure, providing an essential implemented through the state planning system. contribution to the long-term sustainability This will provide a regional context to guide and of the region. inform councils in planning for their municipalities and support decision making at a local level. 1 CENTRAL HIGHLANDS REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN SUMMARY StatE OF CITIES “We will maximise the growth potential of Victoria by developing a state of cities which delivers choice, opportunity and global competitiveness.” The State Government’s new metropolitan planning strategy, Plan Melbourne, provides a land use and transport plan to 2050. The regional growth plans are aligned with Plan Melbourne through the following directions. Plan Melbourne directions: 6.1. Deliver a permanent boundary around Melbourne 6.2. Rebalance Victoria’s population growth from Melbourne to rural and regional Victoria over the life of the strategy 6.3. Integrate metropolitan, peri-urban and regional planning implementation 6.4 Improve connections between cities CENTRAL HIGHLANDS REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN SUMMARY 2 SNAPSHOT OF CENTRAL highlaNDS The region Employment (top 5) Employment 13,900 sq km 17% Over 60,000 located in central western Victoria Manufacturing jobs in the region. extends from Melbourne’s western boundary to the Grampians in 10% Health Care and Social Assistance Around 39,000 western Victoria jobs in Ballarat and over contains 8 main river catchments – 10% Construction 3600 businesses. Avoca, Wimmera, Hopkins, Barwon, Agriculture, Forestry Has a more diversified Moorabool, Loddon, Werribee and 7% and Fishing C industry structure than most Campaspe B 7% Education and training other non-metropolitan regions. A Living in the region AROUND 169,300 PEOPLE LIVE IN THE REGION Almost 98,000 people live in Ballarat, which is Victoria's 3rd largest urban area By 2041, 247,500 people are expected to live in the region Large areas of the region are within Melbourne's peri-urban region Quiz questions Amazing fact Amazing fact 1. What event in the development of The town of Hepburn Springs is home to Ararat is the only town in Australia Australian democracy occurred in Ballarat Australia’s largest concentration of mineral founded by Chinese people. In 1857, in 1854? springs. When gold was found the area 700 Chinese miners travelling to attracted immigrants from the Ticino region the Victorian goldfields discovered 2. Which town is Australia’s only international in Switzerland whose main language is the Canton Lead, one of the world’s booktown and hosts an annual Booktown richest shallow alluvial goldfields. Italian. The Swiss-Italian heritage of the area Festival, Victoria’s largest literary celebration? The find marked the beginning of is evident in the many beautiful buildings and the Ararat goldfield which grew to Answers page 4 stunning gardens. a population of more than 30,000 within a few weeks. Images: Battle of the Eureka Stockade, J. B. Henderson [1834] Watercolour / Sovereign Hill, www.sovereignhill.com.au / Lal Lal - Moorabool Photographic group exhibition, August 2012, photograph taken by ABC Open. 3 CENTRAL HIGHLANDS REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN SUMMARY Heritage Education Gold was discovered in 1851 leading to the Victorian gold Ballarat rush. The “Welcome Nugget”, HAS FOUR found at Ballarat in 1858 contained an estimated 68,272 UNIVERSITIES grams of pure gold. Its value Federation University Australia is approximately $3 million in (Ballarat University), Australian today’s money. Catholic University (Aquinas) and rural clinical schools for Deakin University and Melbourne University. $500 million – annual contribution 68,272 grams of Federation University Australia to Ballarat’s economy. Transport Industry and Business $2.3 billion s the gross value of manufacturing exports in 2011 s FOUR RAIL COrrIDORS 1.3 million sheep and CONNECT THE Ballarat 56,000 cattle is the 10-year REGION TO MELBOURNE, saleyards throughput average ADELAIDE,