title: “Draft CBD Urban Design Framework (Hodyl & Co, 2021)” council: ballarat state: vic category: strategy status: draft last_compiled: 2026-04-13 source_docs:
- ballarat-cbd-draft-urban-design-framework-2021.txt
Draft CBD Urban Design Framework (Hodyl & Co, 2021)
The Draft CBD Urban Design Framework was prepared by Hodyl & Co for the City of Ballarat in February 2021. It sets the overall design direction for the Ballarat CBD, building on the cbd-strategy (2011) and the bakery-hill Urban Renewal Plan (2019).
Study Area
The study area is approximately bounded by Dawson Street (west), Eyre Street/Grant Street/Canadian Creek (south), Humffray Street South/North (east), and Ebden Street/Nolan Street/Doveton Crescent (north).
Structure
The report is organised into five parts:
- Strategic Context — Regional and local context, including “Designing with Country” (Aboriginal cultural landscape values)
- Vision & Principles — An urban design vision and supporting principles for the CBD
- Urban Design Analysis — Spatial analysis of urban structure, streets and open spaces, movement network, and built form character
- Design Framework — Design strategies for the CBD informed by the analysis
- Implementation Plan — Key actions (to be added following consultation feedback)
Planning Relevance
This is a significant document for CBD development assessment. It provides the design-quality framework that sits between the strategic intent of the CBD Strategy and the statutory planning controls in the Ballarat Planning Scheme.
- Advances design controls for the CBD beyond the 2011 CBD Strategy
- Relevant to all permit applications in the CBD, particularly multi-storey development, heritage interface, and public realm improvements
- Connects to the car-parking-strategy for parking provision in CBD redevelopment
- Informs the Mair Street Upgrade Stage 2 BNIF advocacy project
Note: The document is marked “CONFIDENTIAL — ISSUED FOR REVIEW” (Version D, December 2020). Community consultation was planned for December 2020 – January 2021 via MySay Ballarat. The final adopted version has not been identified in the corpus.
Current Status
Draft (February 2021). Status of adoption is unclear — the final report with implementation plan was anticipated in early 2021 but has not been located. The framework may have stalled or been incorporated into other work.
Gaps
- Final adopted version not located in the corpus
- Implementation plan not included in the draft version
- Unclear whether the framework has been formally adopted or incorporated into planning scheme policy