Grange Planning Brain

title: Ross Creek Structure Plan council: golden-plains state: vic category: growth-area classification: MINOR status: unknown last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf
  • Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf

Ross Creek Structure Plan

Ross Creek is treated in the available statutory material as a small-town infill settlement, not as a major greenfield growth area or precinct structure plan. The planning mechanism is simple: keep growth inside the existing township, low-density residential or rural-living zoning pattern, and use the Ross Creek map in Clause 02.04 as the spatial reference point for that containment approach (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.3; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24).

Background

Golden Plains Shire is a 2,705 square kilometre municipality located south of Ballarat, north-west of Geelong and about 70 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, with adjacent municipal boundaries including Ballarat, Greater Geelong, Moorabool, Surf Coast, Colac Otway, Corangamite and Pyrenees (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.1). The Shire is split between two regional planning contexts: the G21 Region in the south and the Central Highlands Region in the north (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.1).

Ross Creek sits within the Shire’s small-town settlement framework rather than the higher-order settlement framework used for Bannockburn, Smythesdale, Teesdale, Inverleigh and Gheringhap (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5). The Municipal Planning Strategy identifies Ross Creek among the small townships and settlements for which town structure plans have been prepared, and states that these plans establish a basis for future strategic planning decisions in each town (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5).

Analysis

Settlement Role and Growth Mechanism

Ross Creek’s planning role is deliberately modest. Council’s settlement strategy supports growth in Ross Creek, Smythes Creek, Corindhap, Dereel, Cape Clear and Berringa only as infill development within existing Township, Low Density Residential or Rural Living Zones (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.3). In practical planning terms, this means the Ross Creek Structure Plan is not a rezoning platform for broad outward expansion; it works more like a fence around what already exists, telling decision-makers to fill gaps before extending the settlement footprint (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5).

The small-town policy is explicit on three linked controls: contain growth within existing settlement boundaries, limit rezoning that would create new residential land, and facilitate infill development shown on each township map at Clause 02.04 (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5). The cause-and-effect is that Ross Creek’s land supply is primarily controlled by existing zoning and mapped settlement limits, not by a development contributions plan, precinct structure plan, or staged infrastructure program in the available documents (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24).

Structure Plan Status in the Planning Scheme

The Ross Creek Structure Plan appears in the Strategic Framework Plans section at Clause 02.04 as page 12 of 14 in the clean proposed C102gpla ordinance package (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24). The track-changes ordinance also includes the Ross Creek Structure Plan in Clause 02.04, where it appears as page 25 of 30 in the strategic framework plan sequence (Source: Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf, p.37; Source: Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf, p.38).

The extracted text does not provide readable map labels, land-use budgets, parcel areas, lot-yield assumptions or staging notes for the Ross Creek map itself (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24). That creates a hard analytical limit: the available material confirms that a structure plan map exists and is intended to guide infill, but it does not allow a quantified calculation of how many additional lots Ross Creek could accommodate (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24).

Infrastructure and Servicing Constraints

Water and sewerage are the main practical constraints in the available policy material. The ordinance states that all towns in the Shire have reticulated water supplies provided by either Central Highlands Water or Barwon Water, and that Central Highlands Water considers it can service most anticipated growth in its northern service area (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11). The exception is higher land south-east of Scarsdale extending to the area south of Ross Creek, where existing supply systems are described as adequate for existing populations and immediate anticipated growth only with minor augmentation works (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11).

The sewerage position is more restrictive. The ordinance says sewerage systems in the Shire are limited to Woodlands Estate near Enfield, Bannockburn and Smythesdale, while Central Highlands Water will assess sewerage needs in Scarsdale and Linton when growth warrants it (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11). Ross Creek is not named as a current sewered township or as a specifically listed future sewerage assessment location in this text, so any intensification beyond low-density or rural-living forms would need to resolve wastewater capability through other permit-stage or strategic evidence not present in the manifest (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11).

The broader infrastructure policy directs development to areas with access to water and sewerage infrastructure, facilitates water and sewerage works in unsewered townships, and seeks improved service delivery to urban-centre townships where sewerage or treated water is lacking (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11). For Ross Creek, the practical effect is that infill may be policy-supported, but each proposal still depends on local servicing capacity, particularly water pressure, wastewater disposal, drainage and road access (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.80).

Low-Density and Rural-Living Form

The Shire-wide low-density residential policy explains the built-form expectation likely to shape Ross Creek where land is in the Low Density Residential Zone. Low-density residential areas in the Shire commonly contain lots of 1 to 4 hectares, with subdivision provisions allowing lot sizes down to 0.4 hectare where consistent with the Domestic Waste Water Management Plan (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.9). The same policy describes the character of these areas as open and spacious, with large trees, wide setbacks, rural-style fencing, open spoon drains and wide road reserves (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.9).

Clause 15.01-3L applies to subdivisions in the Low Density Residential Zone and requires subdivision to respect surrounding lot configuration and character elements, maintain open spacious character, retain vegetation, avoid battleaxe lots, provide wide accessways with landscaping, and ensure roads and drainage are available at subdivision stage (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.80). This turns the structure plan from a simple map into a permit-decision filter: even where a lot is inside the Ross Creek settlement pattern, subdivision still has to demonstrate that infrastructure and character outcomes can be managed (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.80).

Rural-living land is also tightly limited by the ordinance. Schedule 1 to the Rural Living Zone sets an 8 hectare minimum subdivision area for all land in that schedule, while Schedule 2 sets a 2 hectare minimum subdivision area and an 8 hectare minimum area for a dwelling without a permit (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.113; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.125). Without the readable Ross Creek map or zone schedule mapping in the extracted source, this analysis cannot say which Ross Creek parcels fall under each schedule (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.113; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.125).

Environmental, Agricultural and Hazard Considerations

The Shire-wide context identifies rich environmental, cultural and scenic landscapes, including granite outcrops, incised river valleys, volcanic plains, post-contact features, nationally significant roadside native grasslands, grassy woodland plains, the endangered striped legless lizard and spiny rice flower (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.1). The biodiversity policy states that remnant native vegetation across the municipality is estimated at about 25 per cent of pre-European extent and that some of the most significant native vegetation occurs on roadsides (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5).

The agricultural policy explains why settlement containment matters in small towns like Ross Creek: agricultural industries account for more than 25 per cent of employment in the Shire, and rural residential fragmentation in the northern part of the Shire limits agricultural diversity (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.68). The policy also directs subdivision design to minimise impacts on environmental features such as remnant vegetation, public park reserves and waterways, and discourages undersized dwelling lots that would limit productive agricultural use on surrounding land (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.68).

Flooding is handled through the broader state and local floodplain framework rather than a Ross Creek-specific technical study in the manifest. The floodplain policy requires identification of land affected by the 1 per cent Annual Exceedance Probability flood event or as determined by the floodplain management authority, avoidance of inappropriate intensification, and consideration of cumulative development impacts on flood behaviour (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.64). Because no Ross Creek flood study, drainage plan or mapped flood constraint layer is included in the manifest, this page cannot quantify flood-affected land or drainage land take inside the Ross Creek Structure Plan area (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.64).

Current Status

The available documents are proposed C102gpla ordinance packages rather than an adopted standalone Ross Creek Structure Plan report, and the clean ordinance shows Ross Creek only as a Clause 02.04 structure plan map in the strategic framework plan sequence (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24). No panel report, explanatory report, council adoption report, gazettal notice, infrastructure plan, land-use budget, submissions summary or technical background studies for Ross Creek were included in the manifest (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf; Source: Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf).

Dependencies

  • Blocks: The Ross Creek Structure Plan blocks ad hoc outward settlement expansion by directing growth to infill within existing Township, Low Density Residential or Rural Living Zones (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.3; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5).
  • Blocked by: Further intensification is constrained by water, sewerage, drainage, wastewater and road-servicing capacity because the ordinance directs development to areas with access to water and sewerage infrastructure and requires low-density subdivision to provide roads and drainage at subdivision stage (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.80).
  • Informed by: The available statutory source is the proposed C102gpla ordinance package, with the track-changes package showing the proposed translation of the structure-plan material into the planning scheme format (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf; Source: Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf).
  • Implements: The structure plan implements the Shire’s small-town settlement strategy by containing growth within settlement boundaries, limiting rezoning for new residential land and facilitating infill shown on township maps (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.5).
  • Conflicts with: No direct policy conflict is documented for Ross Creek in the manifest, but the general tension is between accommodating small-town infill and avoiding rural residential fragmentation, infrastructure gaps and character change (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.9; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.68).

Ross Creek’s cross-jurisdictional relevance is mainly regional servicing and settlement pressure rather than a boundary-specific project. Golden Plains Shire is influenced by Ballarat and Geelong as service centres, and the north-west settlements are strongly connected to Ballarat through commuting and service relationships (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.1; Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.3). Central Highlands Water is the relevant northern-area water authority referenced in the ordinance, and its servicing position is material to Ross Creek because the policy identifies a water-supply exception extending from south-east of Scarsdale to south of Ross Creek (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.11).

Gaps in This Analysis

This is a thin-source page. The manifest provides two statutory ordinance PDFs and no standalone Ross Creek Structure Plan report, no map legend in readable extracted text, no land-use budget, no parcel schedule, no lot-yield estimate, no servicing assessment, no drainage or flood study, no bushfire assessment, no biodiversity assessment, no consultation report and no amendment lifecycle documents for Ross Creek (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf; Source: Att 7.6.6 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Track Changes Combined.pdf). The most important corpus gap is the primary Ross Creek Structure Plan map/report and any supporting technical assessments, because without those documents the analysis cannot quantify developable land, infrastructure triggers, environmental constraints, lot-yield capacity or contested issues (Source: Att 7.6.5 - Golden Plains C102gpla Ordinance Combined_1.pdf, p.24).

Graph View