2 Wimmera Southern Mallee Snapshot
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WIMMERA SOUTHERN MALLEE REGIONAL GROWTH PLAN BACKGROUND REPORT 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. March 2014 Table of contents Executive summary ........................................................................................................................................ i 1 Introduction and purpose .................................................................................................................... 1 2 Wimmera Southern Mallee snapshot .................................................................................................. 5 3 Economic prosperity ............................................................................................................................ 7 3.1 Economic snapshot of the region ............................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Agriculture .................................................................................................................................................. 9 3.3 Industrial development ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.4 Tourism ..................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.5 Diversification of the regional economy................................................................................................... 21 3.6 Information and communications technology ......................................................................................... 26 3.7 Commercial development ........................................................................................................................ 28 4 Population and settlement................................................................................................................. 29 4.1 Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Settlement hierarchy ................................................................................................................................ 39 4.3 Housing diversity and affordability ........................................................................................................... 40 4.4 Rural settlement ....................................................................................................................................... 42 4.5 Liveability and heritage ............................................................................................................................ 43 5 Planning for communities .................................................................................................................. 45 5.1 Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 45 5.2 Demographic change ................................................................................................................................ 48 5.3 Education and skills .................................................................................................................................. 49 5.4 Health and wellbeing ................................................................................................................................ 53 6 Transport and infrastructure .............................................................................................................. 69 6.1 Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 69 6.2 Regional passenger transport links........................................................................................................... 69 6.3 Freight transport ...................................................................................................................................... 71 6.4 Services and infrastructure ....................................................................................................................... 76 7 Environment ....................................................................................................................................... 80 7.1 Context ..................................................................................................................................................... 80 7.2 Environmental assets ............................................................................................................................... 81 7.3 Water supply assets .................................................................................................................................. 84 7.4 Natural hazards and risks ......................................................................................................................... 86 7.5 Significant landscapes ............................................................................................................................... 93 8 Cross-regional issues .......................................................................................................................... 97 8.1 Land use planning response ..................................................................................................................... 97 References .................................................................................................................................................. 98 1 Maps: Map 1: Wimmera Southern Mallee growth plan boundary .......................................................................................... 1 Map 2: Australia's wheat belts .................................................................................................................................... 11 Map 3: Wimmera Mallee Pipeline ............................................................................................................................... 13 Map 4 : Victoria's Nature-Based Tourism Strategy 2008–2012 ................................................................................... 20 Map 5: Mining and extractive industries, tenements and licences ............................................................................. 23 Map 6: Energy in the future......................................................................................................................................... 25 Map 7: National Broadband Network ......................................................................................................................... 27 Map 8: Wimmera Southern Mallee population projections 2011–2031 by Statistical Local Area .............................. 36 Map 9: Regional settlement analysis map – Grampians ............................................................................................. 38 Map 10: Projected population change in each municipality by age group 2011–2031 .............................................. 46 Map 11: Index of relative socio-economic disadvantage ............................................................................................ 47 Map 12: V Line Network .............................................................................................................................................. 70 Map 13: Principal Freight Network – Rail .................................................................................................................... 72 Map 14: Principal Freight Network - Road .................................................................................................................. 73 Map 15: Commodities and freight flows ..................................................................................................................... 74 Map 16: Main natural features of the Wimmera Southern Mallee ............................................................................ 83 Map 17: Bushfire Management Overlay ..................................................................................................................... 90 Map 18: Areas in the Wimmera Southern Mallee subject to flood controls in regional planning schemes ............... 92 Map 19: Areas of potential landscape significance in Wimmera Southern Mallee..................................................... 95 Map 20: Landscapes assessed as being of regional or state significance