title: Planning Scheme Amendment C274gben - Heathcote Township Rezoning council: greater-bendigo state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: unknown last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf
Planning Scheme Amendment C274gben - Heathcote Township Rezoning
The available corpus does not contain the C274gben amendment documentation itself; it contains a later council agenda for Amendment C285gben that refers back to C274gben as an already established planning control for Heathcote. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The only direct C274gben evidence in the source is that C274gben rezoned land in the township of Heathcote to Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 4, described as NRZ4 - Heathcote Residential Areas. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 123) The practical planning meaning is that NRZ4 had become the residential zone framework for Heathcote township land by the time C285gben was prepared, and C285gben used that existing Heathcote zone framework to justify adding 31 Ayres Street, Argyle to NRZ4. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.119, 123, 130)
Background
The source agenda is for the Greater Bendigo Council meeting held on Monday 20 April 2026, and its only planning item is Amendment C285gben rather than C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.1, 3, 32) Amendment C285gben was described as a corrections amendment that corrected zoning and overlay mapping errors, removed redundant overlays, corrected planning scheme text, rezoned one privately owned property to a residential zone, and applied the Heritage Overlay to two privately owned properties and part of 23 other properties. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.32-34) Within that later amendment, 31 Ayres Street, Argyle was proposed to be rezoned from Industrial 3 Zone to NRZ4 - Heathcote Residential Areas. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.102)
The C285gben explanatory report states that 31 Ayres Street, Argyle had been identified in the Heathcote Township Plan as suitable for rezoning to residential use, subject to bushfire risk issues being addressed. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116, 119, 130) The same explanatory report states that 31 Ayres Street is located within the Heathcote urban area and that the NRZ4 selection contributes to implementing the Heathcote strategic framework plan. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.119, 123) This makes C274gben important as a base control: the later C285gben rezoning is presented as consistent with a residential zone pattern already established for Heathcote by C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
Analysis
Evidence Base and Analytical Limits
The available evidence is too thin to reconstruct C274gben at a parcel-by-parcel or policy-by-policy level. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The source does not provide the C274gben explanatory report, instruction sheet, amendment maps, panel report, submissions, adoption report, approval notice, gazettal notice, or final ordinance changes. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.3, 32, 123) As a result, this page can identify the mechanism visible from the later source, but it cannot quantify the total land area rezoned by C274gben, the number of affected parcels, the change in dwelling capacity, the number or content of public submissions, or whether any C274gben issues were contested before a panel. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
The strongest conclusion available from the source is narrow: C274gben rezoned land in the township of Heathcote to NRZ4, and this earlier rezoning was treated by C285gben as a relevant precedent or surrounding-control context for applying NRZ4 to 31 Ayres Street. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 119, 123, 130) In simple terms, C274gben appears to have set the residential rulebook for parts of Heathcote, and C285gben later tried to place an adjoining or related Heathcote urban-area site into the same rulebook. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.119, 123, 130)
Zoning Mechanism and Residential Change
The visible statutory mechanism is the use of Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 4 for Heathcote residential areas. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.102) C285gben states that C274gben had already rezoned land in the township of Heathcote to NRZ4, which means NRZ4 was not introduced in isolation through the later corrections amendment. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) C285gben then proposed to rezone approximately 2.2 hectares at 31 Ayres Street, Argyle from Industrial 3 Zone to NRZ4. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.102)
The planning effect of moving land from an industrial zone to a neighbourhood residential zone is a change in the land use signal from employment or industrial land to residential settlement land. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 108) The source states that 31 Ayres Street was already used and developed for residential purposes, including a single-storey dwelling and ancillary sheds, so the later rezoning was framed as aligning the zone with the existing residential use and the Heathcote urban-area strategy rather than opening a wholly undeveloped greenfield front. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-117) The source also states that the site was identified by the Heathcote Township Plan as suitable for residential rezoning, subject to a conclusive bushfire risk assessment. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 130)
The source does not provide enough information to calculate the housing yield from C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) It also does not state whether C274gben changed minimum lot sizes, building heights, neighbourhood character requirements, subdivision controls, or local variations within NRZ4. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 123) That is a material analytical gap because the difference between a nominal residential rezoning and actual housing capacity depends on schedule controls, constraints, servicing, and subdivision feasibility. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116-118, 123)
Bushfire as the Binding Constraint
The clearest downstream issue linked to the Heathcote residential framework is bushfire risk. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.113-118) The C285gben explanatory report states that the land at 31 Ayres Street could not be rezoned when the Heathcote Township Plan was prepared because bushfire risks had not been fully assessed. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.116) A Phoenix Wildfire Management bushfire report prepared in 2023 was later submitted, and the C285gben report states that future development on the site could achieve BAL-12.5. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116-117)
The bushfire mechanism is spatial rather than merely procedural. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-117) The report describes surrounding vegetation within 150 metres of 31 Ayres Street as low-threat grassland, describes the landscape as generally flat to upslope from the site, and states that reasonable access and egress are available. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.116) It then states that BAL-12.5 can be achieved by applying building setbacks from the northern and southern lot boundaries. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116-117) The source contains a minor internal inconsistency because one passage refers to 20 metres from the northern boundary and 19 metres from the southern boundary, while a later passage refers to 19 metres from both the northern and southern boundaries. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116)
C285gben proposed to apply Design and Development Overlay Schedule 35 to 31 Ayres Street to manage bushfire risk through separation distances, defendable space, vegetation management, and access requirements. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.106, 114, 117) The source states that the CFA reviewed the bushfire report and, in a letter dated 29 January 2024, supported rezoning 31 Ayres Street to a residential zone. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.117, 124, 130) The source also states that the site has access to the Heathcote Bushfire Place of Last Resort at Holy Rosary Primary School oval, approximately 4.5 kilometres to the north-west, and to the Heathcote Town Centre, approximately 3.4 kilometres to the north-west, which was assessed as BAL-LOW. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
The practical planning consequence is that residential rezoning in the Heathcote urban area is not only a question of land supply; it is also controlled by whether each affected site can demonstrate acceptable bushfire exposure, safe access, defendable space, and an appropriate overlay mechanism. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.113-118) The source explicitly acknowledges that rezoning 31 Ayres Street could put more people or properties at bushfire risk because of the lot size, and it treats DDO35 as the mitigation tool for future development and subdivision. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.117)
Relationship to Heathcote Township Planning
The source links the NRZ4 mechanism to the Heathcote Township Plan and the Heathcote strategic framework plan. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 119, 123, 130) It states that 31 Ayres Street was identified in the adopted Heathcote Township Plan, dated August 2024, as suitable for rezoning to a residential zone subject to a conclusive bushfire risk assessment. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.130) It also states that applying NRZ4 to 31 Ayres Street would contribute to implementing the Heathcote strategic framework plan. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
This creates a cause-and-effect chain. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 123, 130) First, the Heathcote Township Plan identified land suitable for residential rezoning, subject to bushfire resolution. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 130) Second, C274gben established NRZ4 across land in Heathcote township. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) Third, C285gben used that NRZ4 framework to support rezoning 31 Ayres Street from IN3Z to NRZ4 after the bushfire assessment and CFA support had been obtained. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 117, 123, 130)
The missing part of the chain is the actual content of the Heathcote Township Plan and C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 123, 130) Without those documents, the corpus cannot test whether NRZ4 was applied to all relevant Heathcote residential land, whether particular areas were excluded because of bushfire, heritage, servicing, drainage, neighbourhood character, or transport constraints, or whether C274gben included staging or transition provisions. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-118, 123)
Heathcote Mapping Corrections in the Later Amendment
The later C285gben amendment also affected 63-77 Ebden Street, Heathcote through a Heritage Overlay correction rather than a residential rezoning. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.105, 109, 127) The explanatory report states that 63-77 Ebden Street had recently been subdivided for residential purposes and did not contain an item of heritage significance. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.109) It states that HO755, Our Lady Help of Christians Church former, applies to the adjoining property at 59 Ebden Street and had erroneously included 63-77 Ebden Street. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.109) C285gben therefore proposed to delete HO755 from part of 63-77 Ebden Street. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.105, 127)
This is relevant to the C274gben page because it shows a separate Heathcote residential implementation issue: after residential subdivision occurred at 63-77 Ebden Street, the planning scheme still contained a heritage mapping error that required correction. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.109) The source also states that 63-77 Ebden Street is in a designated bushfire prone area and that the amendment assessment found the proposed overlay deletion would not introduce or intensify development above BAL-12.5. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.114-115)
Process, Submissions and Contestation Visible in the Source
The available source provides process detail for C285gben, not C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.32-39) Council resolved on 22 April 2024 to request authorisation, prepare the amendment documentation, exhibit the amendment subject to authorisation, and allow minor changes that did not alter the overall intent or were requested by the Department of Transport and Planning. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.38-39) The Minister for Planning authorised C285gben on 22 August 2025, subject to conditions, and the only noteworthy change after authorisation was deletion of three properties to satisfy the Department of Transport and Planning that all proposed rezonings were consistent with Clause 13.02-1S on bushfire planning. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.39)
C285gben was exhibited from 23 October to 22 December 2025 after an exhibition extension caused by an administrative notification issue. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.37) The exhibition included notices to approximately 800 owners, occupiers, and adjoining landowners, notices in the Government Gazette on 23 October 2025 and 20 November 2025, notices to prescribed ministers and relevant authorities, notices in the Bendigo Advertiser and McIvor Times, and access through the City and Department of Transport and Planning websites. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.37) Nine submissions were received, comprising five opposing submissions and four supporting submissions. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.34)
The unresolved C285gben issues were not identified as Heathcote township rezoning issues. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.32, 34-36) The two unresolved submissions concerned removal of Vegetation Protection Overlay Schedule 2 from public land associated with Bendigo Regional Park, and council officers recommended referring those unresolved submissions to a Planning Panel. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.32, 34-36) Because the source does not contain C274gben submissions, this page cannot identify whether the Heathcote township rezoning was contested, supported, modified after exhibition, or changed by a panel. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
Current Status
The current statutory status of C274gben cannot be determined from the available source. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The source refers to C274gben in the past tense as an amendment that rezoned land in the township of Heathcote to NRZ4, which indicates that C274gben had already shaped the planning scheme context by the time the C285gben explanatory report was prepared. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The source does not state the C274gben authorisation date, exhibition dates, adoption date, approval date, gazettal date, or final amendment outcome. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
The current visible downstream action is C285gben, which proposed to extend or align the Heathcote NRZ4 framework to 31 Ayres Street, Argyle and to correct a Heathcote heritage mapping error at 63-77 Ebden Street. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 105, 109, 123, 127, 130) On 20 April 2026, the officer recommendation for C285gben was that Council request the Minister for Planning to appoint a Planning Panel and refer submissions to that panel. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.32-33)
Dependencies
- Blocks: The available source does not identify any approval, infrastructure, servicing, or subdivision process blocked by C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123)
- Blocked by: The available source shows that at least one Heathcote urban-area residential rezoning candidate, 31 Ayres Street, was blocked or delayed until bushfire risk was assessed and CFA support was obtained. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116-117, 130)
- Informed by: The visible downstream rezoning was informed by the Heathcote Township Plan, the Heathcote strategic framework plan, the Phoenix Wildfire Management bushfire report, and CFA advice dated 29 January 2024. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-117, 123, 130)
- Implements: The visible downstream rezoning was framed as implementing the Heathcote strategic framework plan and supporting settlement policy by directing growth to identified locations. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.119, 123)
- Conflicts with: The available source does not identify a policy conflict specific to C274gben, but it shows that bushfire planning under Clause 13.02-1S was a critical constraint for rezonings associated with the Heathcote urban-area framework. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.39, 113-118)
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The source identifies the Department of Transport and Planning as a relevant state agency in the amendment process, including authorisation conditions and exhibition access through the department website. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.37, 39, 101) The source identifies the CFA as the fire authority that supported residential rezoning of 31 Ayres Street after reviewing the bushfire report. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.117, 124, 130) The source states that the Head, Transport for Victoria had no objection to C285gben and considered the single industrial-to-residential rezoning likely to reduce potential traffic generation. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.97-98)
The available source does not identify any cross-boundary servicing dependency involving a water authority, adjoining council, regional transport corridor upgrade, or state infrastructure program for C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The Northern Highway is identified as the road connection for safe access from 31 Ayres Street to Heathcote, but the source does not identify any road upgrade, access permit issue, or transport capacity constraint associated with that connection. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
Gaps in This Analysis
This analysis is constrained by a corpus gap for C274gben. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The missing documents are the C274gben explanatory report, instruction sheet, amendment maps, NRZ4 schedule as exhibited and approved, council authorisation report, exhibition material, public submissions, officer response to submissions, panel report if any, adoption report, approval notice, and gazettal notice. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The missing strategic documents are the Heathcote Township Plan and the Heathcote strategic framework plan, both of which are referenced by the later C285gben material but are not included in the manifest source documents. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 119, 123, 130)
The missing technical documents materially limit the analysis. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.108, 116-118, 123) Without the C274gben amendment maps and NRZ4 schedule, the total land area affected by the Heathcote township rezoning cannot be measured. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.102, 123) Without the Heathcote Township Plan, the preferred settlement boundary, neighbourhood character rationale, staging logic, and excluded land cannot be tested. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 119, 130) Without servicing, transport, drainage, heritage, contamination, and bushfire reports for the whole township rezoning, the actual development capacity and constraint profile of C274gben cannot be quantified. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.113-118, 123)
The highest-priority gap is a Tier 1 statutory source gap for the C274gben amendment package. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, p.123) The second priority gap is the Heathcote Township Plan, because the available source repeatedly uses it to justify later residential rezoning decisions in the Heathcote urban area. (Source: City-Greater-Bendigo-Council-Meeting-April-20-2026-Agenda.pdf, pp.116, 119, 130)