title: Ballarat North PSP Bushfire Planning Constraint council: ballarat state: vic category: growth-area classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf
- Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf
Ballarat North PSP Bushfire Planning Constraint
The Ballarat North PSP bushfire constraint is not described by the available technical material as a reason to avoid urban development across the precinct; it is described as a design, staging and statutory-control issue that must be resolved through setbacks, interface roads, water supply, access, and future treatment of BPA and BMO controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.5, 65-67) The main planning mechanism is simple: future buildings need enough low-threat separation from hazardous grassland, forest, scrub or woodland so that BAL-12.5 or BAL-LOW outcomes can be achieved under the bushfire planning framework. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-46, 65-67)
Background
The Ballarat North PSP sits directly north of the existing Ballarat urban area and is being prepared by the Victorian Planning Authority to guide future urban development. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.6) The 2025 Terramatrix report identifies the core PSP area as approximately 561 hectares and says the draft Place Based Plan provides for approximately 6,000 lots, neighbourhood and local activity centres, government and non-government school sites, public open space and supporting infrastructure. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.6-7) The same report states that a possible expanded area north of the core area could add approximately 2,600 to 3,500 lots, but that staging had not yet been developed at the time of the report. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.6)
The earlier 2024 Ecology and Heritage Partners assessment considered a broader study area of approximately 832 hectares made up of the 561-hectare core area and a 271-hectare expanded area across 104 contiguous land parcels in Mount Rowan and Miners Rest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.6) The 2024 report records that the core area was zoned Urban Growth Zone and the expanded area was zoned Farming Zone at the time of that assessment. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.5) The 2024 assessment also records that no decision had been made at that time about whether the expanded area would be included in the final PSP. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.5)
All land in the precinct is within a designated Bushfire Prone Area, and approximately 50 hectares near the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant is covered by the Bushfire Management Overlay. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.6) Ecology and Heritage Partners describe the BMO as applying to the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant and adjoining land within approximately 150 metres of it. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.6) Terramatrix identifies the BMO coverage as land within approximately 150 metres of the pine plantations at the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.12, 52)
Analysis
The Constraint Is Spatial, Not Precinct-Wide
The available reports describe a precinct where the broad landscape risk is relatively low compared with more forested interfaces, but where local hazards still need to be built into subdivision design. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.35-36, 65) Ecology and Heritage Partners conclude that a landscape-scale fire approaching from the south-west is extremely unlikely to affect the study area except for ember attack because urban land and hard surfaces replace fuel close to the study area. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.4) The same 2024 report considers a landscape-scale fire from the north-west more likely than one from the south-west, but still unlikely, because roads, ornamental gardens and managed lawns would reduce fire momentum and severity. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.4)
The mechanism is like keeping a hot barbecue away from a house: the issue is not only whether fire exists somewhere nearby, but how much fuel sits between the flame source and the future building. Terramatrix identifies classified Grassland and Forest within and adjacent to the precinct as bushfire hazards, with the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant pine plantations classified as Forest and open pasture more than 100 millimetres high with less than 10 percent overstorey foliage cover classified as Grassland. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.18-20, 65-66) Ecology and Heritage Partners also identified Grassland, Shrubland, Scrub, Woodland and Forest within the assessment area, including Grassland in paddocks and public spaces, Forest in the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant, and variable vegetation along Burrumbeet Creek. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.9-13)
The topography is not presented as the binding bushfire constraint. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.31-34, 65-66) Terramatrix states that terrain within and around the precinct is benign from a bushfire perspective and generally falls into the Flat land and all upslopes or Downslope greater than 0 to 5 degrees slope classes for BAL purposes. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.5, 65-66) Ecology and Heritage Partners identify Mount Rowan as the highest point in the study area at 518 metres above sea level, descending to about 470 metres on nearby parcels, with lower points along Burrumbeet Creek at about 440 metres in the south and about 430 metres near the western creek and wetland area. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.6)
BAL-12.5 Is the Operating Threshold
Both reports treat BAL-12.5 as the key planning threshold for future habitable buildings in the BPA and BMO parts of the precinct. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.4, 13; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.5, 42-46) Ecology and Heritage Partners state that BAL-12.5 is the minimum permissible construction standard within the BPA and BMO under the Building Amendment bushfire construction regulations and is also the maximum building construction standard allowable under Clause 13.02-1S for a planning scheme amendment. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.4) Terramatrix states that future dwellings and other buildings requiring a BAL will need to be sufficiently set back from classified vegetation to enable a BAL-12.5 construction standard. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.42)
The required BAL-12.5 setbacks are material to the PSP land use layout. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-46, 65-66) On all upslopes and flat land, Terramatrix identifies BAL-12.5 setback distances of 19 metres from Grassland, 27 metres from Scrub, 33 metres from Woodland, and 48 metres from Forest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-43, 66) On downslope greater than 0 to 5 degrees, Terramatrix identifies BAL-12.5 setback distances of 22 metres from Grassland, 31 metres from Scrub, 41 metres from Woodland, and 57 metres from Forest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-43, 66)
The practical effect is that the bushfire constraint becomes a building-envelope and interface-design control rather than a simple line on a map. Terramatrix states that setbacks in the BMO around the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant comprise defendable space that would need to be managed to Clause 53.02-5 standards, while setbacks in the BPA would need to comprise low-threat vegetation or non-vegetated land. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.42) Terramatrix also states that the actual location of setbacks will depend on the final subdivision design and on the treatment of vegetation and revegetation within the Burrumbeet Creek corridor and associated wetlands. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-45)
Burrumbeet Creek Is Both an Open-Space Asset and a Future Hazard Edge
Burrumbeet Creek is a central planning tension because the draft urban form uses it as a linear reserve, while revegetation and wetland treatment can create classified vegetation that affects adjacent housing setbacks. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.7, 26-29, 44-45) Terramatrix states that the draft Place Based Plan shows a linear reserve along Burrumbeet Creek, crossing the northern end of Ballarat Town Common, linking to wetlands and pine plantations in the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant, and continuing to the eastern precinct boundary at Midland Highway. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.7) Terramatrix also states that drainage basins and wetlands are likely along Burrumbeet Creek and lesser drainage lines elsewhere in the precinct. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.7)
The mechanism is that the same planting that improves waterway, biodiversity and landscape outcomes can increase the classified vegetation category that determines setbacks. Terramatrix assumes, for bushfire assessment purposes, that Burrumbeet Creek reserve and associated wetlands will contain classified Grassland, Scrub or Woodland that future buildings will need to be set back from. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.27-29, 44-45) Ecology and Heritage Partners similarly state that revegetated sections of Burrumbeet Creek could be classified as Forest where tree and shrub rehabilitation matures, with a 48-metre separation distance used as a conservative assumption for those areas. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.14-15)
This does not mean Burrumbeet Creek must be excluded from urban design as a green corridor. Ecology and Heritage Partners state that even if Burrumbeet Creek is revegetated with trees and shrubs, the linear corridor would not constitute an extreme bushfire hazard and they do not consider that the BMO should be applied to it. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.4, 23) The planning implication is narrower: the PSP should avoid placing building envelopes too close to the creek edge unless the intervening land is designed and maintained as low-threat space or unless the building layout can still meet BAL-12.5. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.44-46, 54-58)
The Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant Is the Hardest Local Interface
The Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant is the strongest bushfire interface in the available material because its pine plantations are classified as Forest and because existing BMO controls already recognise the hazard. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.12, 19-20, 52) Ecology and Heritage Partners state that the mature Radiata Pine plantations within the plant have potential to generate heat, embers and flames, and that the existing BMO extent over the plant and about 150 metres into the study area is appropriate. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.4, 23) Terramatrix similarly recommends that BMO coverage be retained over the area within approximately 150 metres of the pine plantation in the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.52)
The separation consequence is larger at this interface than at grassland edges. Terramatrix identifies Forest setbacks of 48 metres on all upslopes and flat land and 57 metres on downslope greater than 0 to 5 degrees for BAL-12.5. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-43, 66) Terramatrix states that potential BMO1 land would comprise land in the BMO at least 57 metres from classified Forest on a downslope greater than 0 to 5 degrees to the north and east of the Ballarat Water Reclamation Plant. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.52) Land within 57 metres of the Forest would remain covered by the BMO parent provision. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.52)
The planning implication is that the BMO interface should be resolved before small-lot subdivision patterns are locked in. Terramatrix states that BMO1 would simplify single-dwelling applications that meet BMO1 requirements by requiring a Bushfire Management Plan rather than a full Bushfire Management Statement. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.52) Terramatrix also states that the BMO1 bushfire protection measures include BAL-12.5 construction, defendable space, access requirements and static water supply. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.52-53)
BPA Excision Could Change Future Building Requirements
The whole precinct is currently within the BPA, but Terramatrix expects that much of it may become eligible for excision from the BPA as urban development permanently removes the bushfire hazard. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.14-15, 46-52, 65-66) Terramatrix states that the Department of Transport and Planning reviews and excises areas from the BPA approximately every six months, particularly in growth areas. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.14-15, 46) Terramatrix states that excision from the BPA would enable BAL-LOW construction in those areas, meaning no specific construction requirements for bushfire protection. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.46, 66)
This creates a sequencing issue. Early stages may be delivered while surrounding undeveloped land remains classified as Grassland, so early subdivision design must still provide BAL-12.5 setbacks from pasture, the Burrumbeet Creek reserve, Mount Rowan regional open space and the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-53, 65-67) Later stages may sit inside a more urbanised low-threat landscape and could become eligible for BAL-LOW treatment if the BPA boundary is removed. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.46-52, 66) Terramatrix identifies potential BPA-excision categories including land more than 60 metres from classified Grassland and land more than 300 metres from classified Forest or Woodland. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.46)
Access and Water Supply Are Operational Controls
The reports treat emergency access and water supply as implementation controls that can be resolved through conventional subdivision design, with extra requirements in BMO areas. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.16-18; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.52-53, 65-67) Terramatrix states that good access and egress for emergency vehicles and residents can be achieved by a conventional residential road network with multiple links to existing urban areas to the south and west. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.67) Terramatrix supports proposed interface roads where possible because they contribute to BAL-12.5 separation distances and assist property protection and firefighting. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.45-46, 66-67)
Water supply has two levels of obligation. Terramatrix states that reliable firefighting water can be provided through a conventional reticulated hydrant system in accordance with Clause 56.09-3 for residential subdivision. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.67) Terramatrix also states that BMO parts of the precinct will require an additional static water supply. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.67) Ecology and Heritage Partners likewise state that static water supplies are required for properties in the BMO under Clause 53.02-4.3 and would therefore be required for properties within the BMO adjoining the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant when subdivision or building applications are made. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.18)
Current Status
The 2025 Terramatrix report states that the VPA is preparing the Ballarat North PSP and that a staging plan had not yet been developed at the time of that report. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.6) The 2025 report uses the draft Place Based Plan as the assumed urban form for its assessment, including approximately 6,000 lots in the core area and a future linear Burrumbeet Creek reserve. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.6-7) The 2024 Ecology and Heritage Partners report assessed both the core area and expanded area but recorded that no decision had been made at that time about whether the expanded area would be included in the final PSP. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.5)
Dependencies
- Blocks: The bushfire constraint blocks subdivision layouts that cannot provide BAL-12.5 or BAL-LOW outcomes for future buildings near classified vegetation. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-46, 65-67)
- Blocks: The BMO interface near the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant blocks simplified treatment for land within 57 metres of classified Forest, because Terramatrix states that land within that distance would remain covered by the BMO parent provision. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.52)
- Blocked by: Final resolution depends on the ultimate PSP layout, the final treatment of Burrumbeet Creek, the interface-road network, and whether staged urbanisation supports future BPA excision. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.42-53, 65-67)
- Informed by: The available bushfire assessment is informed by the 2024 Ecology and Heritage Partners report and the 2025 Terramatrix report. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, p.1; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, p.1)
- Implements: The bushfire response implements Clause 13.02-1S settlement-planning requirements by identifying the hazard, applying BAL-12.5 setbacks, and prioritising protection of human life. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.10-11, 59-64)
- Conflicts with: No direct policy conflict is identified in the available reports, but there is a design tension between revegetated waterway or open-space outcomes and the need to keep future buildings set back from classified vegetation. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.26-29, 44-46, 54-58)
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The available documents identify the VPA as the PSP-preparing authority, the City of Ballarat as the municipal area, the CFA as a consulted fire authority in the 2024 assessment, and the Department of Transport and Planning as relevant to BPA mapping and possible BPA excision. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.2, 7; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.14-15, 46) The available documents also identify the Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant as a key local interface because its pine plantations drive BMO and Forest-setback treatment. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf, pp.4, 23; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.12, 19-20, 52)
Gaps in This Analysis
This analysis is limited to two bushfire reports and their duplicate extracted-text records in the manifest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-and-Risk-Assessment-Ecology-and-Heritage-Partners-July-2024.pdf; Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf) The reports refer to a draft Place Based Plan, VPA inception material, VPA email advice, a Burrumbeet Creek interface cross-section, a WSP biodiversity assessment, and regional or statewide bushfire guidance documents, but those documents are not included as separate source documents in this compile manifest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.68-71) Because the draft Place Based Plan is not available as a source document in this manifest, this page cannot quantify exact lot-yield effects from bushfire setbacks by parcel, street block, reserve edge, or development stage. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.6-7, 42-53) Because the final PSP, final staging plan and any final BPA-excision mapping are not available in this manifest, this page cannot identify which stages will remain BAL-12.5 and which stages may later become BAL-LOW. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.46-52, 65-67) Because the final revegetation design for Burrumbeet Creek is not available in this manifest, this page treats the creek corridor as a variable future hazard edge rather than a fixed setback line. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bushfire-Development-Report-Terramatrix-August-2025.pdf, pp.26-29, 44-45)