HUME REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN Prepared in partnership between local government and state agencies and authorities Acknowledgement The Hume Regional Growth Plan has been developed with input from a range of organisations, specifically those organisations represented on the Hume Regional Growth Plan Project Steering Committee and Technical Working Group, as follows: Alpine Shire Council Office of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority Benalla Rural City Council Alpine Resorts Goulburn-Murray Water Greater Shepparton City Council Country Fire Authority Goulburn Valley Water Indigo Shire Council Department of Education and Early Childhood NevRwaste (North East Regional Waste Development Management Group) Mansfield Shire Council Department of Health North East Catchment Management Authority Mitchell Shire Council Department of Human Services North East Water Moira Shire Council Department of Environment and Primary Industries Resource GV (Goulburn Valley Regional Waste Murrindindi Shire Council Management Group) Department of State Development, Business and Strathbogie Shire Council Innovation State Emergency Service Towong Shire Council Department of Transport, Planning and Local VicRoads Wangaratta Rural City Council Infrastructure Wodonga Council Environment Protection Authority Victoria 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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i 12. Environment and heritage 28 12.1 Environmental assets 30 PART A INTRODUCTION 1 12.2 Cultural heritage assets 34 12.3 Natural hazards and risks 35 1. What is a regional growth plan? 1 13. Living in the region 36 2. Why we need this plan 4 13.1 Existing settlement network 36 3. How this plan will be used 5 13.2 Urban settlement framework 38 4. How the plan was prepared 5 13.3 Other settlement directions 57 5. Components of this plan 7 14. Regional infrastructure 61 14.1 Transport networks 61 PART B REGIONAL OVERVIEW 9 14.2 Social infrastructure 68 14.3 Energy, communications, water and waste 70 6. Snapshot of the region 9 7. Drivers of change 12 PART D REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN 75 8. Challenges for growth 12 15. Future directions for regional growth 75 9. Vision for the region 13 10. Principles to achieve the vision 15 PART E DELIVERING REGIONAL GROWTH 83 PART C TOWARDS THE REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN 16. Implementation 83 — REGIONAL LAND USE FRAMEWORK 17 16.1 Planning schemes 83 16.2 Links to Regional Strategic Plan implementation 83 11. Regional economy 17 16.3 A plan for implementation of actions 84 11.1 Business, industry and services: working in 16.4 Review and performance 88 the Hume Region 19 16.5 Implementation summary 88 11.2 Agriculture 22 GLOSSARY 89 11.3 Energy and earth resources 27 Regional Growth Plan HUME CONTENTS Figures Maps Figure 1: Where does the regional growth plan fit? 3 Map 1: The eight regional growth plans 2 Figure 2: Hume Regional Growth Plan process 5 Map 2: Hume sub-regions 3 Figure 3: Hume Regional Growth Plan – Key products Map 3: National context 10 and inputs 6 Map 4: Strategic agricultural land 25 Figure 4: Summary of the vision for growth in 2041 14 Map 5: Future directions – Environment and heritage 29 Figure 5: Hume Strategy partnership governance structure Map 6: Existing urban settlement network 37 and regional growth plan implementation 84 Map 7: Hume – Future urban growth 39 Map 8: Central Hume – Future urban growth 42 Tables Map 9: Wangaratta Urban Growth Framework 43 Table 1: Projected population 9 Map 10: Benalla Urban Growth Framework 44 Table 2: Growth corridors – Shepparton 45 Map 11: Goulburn Valley – Future urban growth 46 Table 3: State significant land uses present within Map 12: Shepparton Urban Growth Framework 48 Melbourne’s peri-urban region 60 Map 13: Lower Hume – Future urban growth 50 Table 4: Strategies 76 Map 14: Seymour Urban Growth Framework 51 Table 5: Actions 85 Map 15: Upper Hume – Future urban growth 53 Map 16: Wodonga Urban Growth Framework 55 Map 17: Future directions for transport 67 Map 18: Hume regional growth plan 80 Regional Growth Plan HUME EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Hume Regional Growth Plan provides a regional approach to land Regional overview use planning in the Hume Region, which includes the municipalities The Hume Region is located strategically along major national road of Alpine, Benalla, Greater Shepparton, Indigo, Mansfield, Mitchell, and rail transport routes that provide key opportunities for further Moira, Murrindindi, Strathbogie, Towong, Wangaratta and Wodonga. growth and development. The plan is accompanied by a background paper, which documents the information and considerations that were taken into account In 2011, the region had a population of 276,300 people and is expected when developing the plan. The plan identifies opportunities to to grow to around 354,000 by 2041, an increase of approximately 80,000 encourage and accommodate growth and to manage change in people. This estimate excludes population growth in those areas in the region over the next 30 years, building on the directions of Mitchell Shire within the recently expanded urban growth boundary for the Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities 2010–2020 and metropolitan Melbourne. striving to help achieve the following vision for the Hume Region: Unlike many other regions, Hume is not dominated by a single city. Instead, it contains three large regional cities and a number of smaller Hume Strategy for Sustainable regional centres, as well as a range of other settlement types including Communities 2010–2020 Vision townships and villages, alpine resorts, rural residential locations and farming areas. The southern part of the region lies within the peri- The Hume Region will be resilient, diverse and thriving. It will urban influence of Melbourne. The regional cities and centres act as capitalise on the strengths and competitive advantages of the four hubs, providing services to networks of smaller settlements. sub-regions, to harness growth for the benefit of the region and to The regional economy is based on access to natural resources such as develop liveable and sustainable communities. water and productive land, environmental assets and proximity to major transport links. Agriculture, manufacturing and tourism are important The plan identifies: industry sectors. • locations where future development will be supported, assessed at a regional scale • environmental, economic, community and heritage assets that should be conserved, maintained or sensitively developed • key regional priorities for future infrastructure planning and development to support growth. Regional Growth Plan HUME i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Challenges Regional land use framework Key challenges for the Hume Region are summarised in Section 8 of this Regional economy plan and discussed in the background paper. They include finding the most effective ways to: Hume’s economy relies heavily on agriculture and manufacturing, including processing of farm produce. Economic forces and policy changes • adapt to the potential impacts of climate change at international and national levels are impacting on businesses in the • support communities region, providing challenges and opportunities. This plan seeks to assist • provide for residential, commercial and industrial expansion in developing a more diverse regional economy, while maintaining and • assist agricultural industries to remain competitive enhancing key regional economic assets. • provide transport and other infrastructure to meet the needs of Freight and logistics represent a major opportunity to capitalise on communities and industries national and intrastate transport links. Ensuring serviced employment • protect and enhance environmental assets land is provided in proximity to urban growth areas, and that transport and infrastructure are integrated with development, will help facilitate • manage exposure to natural hazards economic and employment growth. Public and private sector investment • diversify the economy, increase employment and fill skills gaps. will ensure Central Business Districts are vibrant and attractive places to do business. Principles Recent modernisation of irrigation systems in the region provides In line with the Hume Strategy, this plan seeks to develop: opportunities for additional investment to increase food production and • efficient and sustainable settlements attract new processing industries. Protecting strategically important • sustainable rural communities agricultural land will maintain options for future changes in production in response to market demands. Alternative