title: 31 Ayres Street, Argyle Rezoning from Industrial 3 Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone council: greater-bendigo state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf
31 Ayres Street, Argyle Rezoning from Industrial 3 Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone
Amendment C285gben proposes to rezone approximately 2.2 hectares at 31 Ayres Street, Argyle from Industrial 3 Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 4, and to apply Design and Development Overlay Schedule 35 for bushfire protection. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.105) The planning mechanism is not a broad employment-land conversion program; it is one privately owned parcel within a wider corrections amendment that also fixes zoning, overlay, heritage, and ordinance anomalies across the municipality. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-34)
The practical planning question is whether an existing residentially used parcel can be moved from an industrial zone into the residential zone framework identified for Heathcote, while managing bushfire risk through site-specific setbacks and future development controls. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
Background
Amendment C285gben is a Greater Bendigo City Council amendment prepared by Council as the planning authority. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101) Council resolved on 22 April 2024 to request authorisation, prepare the amendment, exhibit it subject to authorisation, and allow minor officer changes that did not alter the amendment’s intent. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.38-39) The Minister for Planning authorised preparation and exhibition on 22 August 2025, with conditions that led to the deletion of three properties so proposed rezonings would be consistent with Clause 13.02-1S bushfire planning. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.39)
The amendment was exhibited from 23 October 2025 to 22 December 2025 after the exhibition period was extended because of an administrative notification issue. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.37) Council reported receiving nine submissions: five opposing and four supporting. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.34) Two submissions remained unresolved at the 20 April 2026 agenda stage, and those unresolved submissions related to vegetation protection in Bendigo Regional Park rather than the 31 Ayres Street rezoning. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-35)
Analysis
Land Use Mechanism
The rezoning changes the statutory purpose of the 31 Ayres Street land from Industrial 3 Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 4. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101) The source material says the parcel is privately owned, approximately 2.2 hectares, and shown on Planning Scheme Map No. 44. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.125)
The everyday version is this: the planning scheme currently has the land in the wrong box for how Council now expects the place to function. The amendment moves it from the industrial box to the neighbourhood-residential box, but adds a bushfire-safety instruction sheet so future buildings and subdivision must keep clear space from hazard edges. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
The land was identified in the Heathcote Township Plan as suitable for rezoning to a residential zone, subject to bushfire risk being addressed and resolved. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.107; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.130) The explanatory report also states that the site is within the Heathcote urban area and was identified in the Heathcote Township Plan as suitable for residential use and development. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.118-119)
The amendment does not provide a dwelling yield, subdivision concept, servicing assessment, or lot layout for the 2.2 hectare parcel. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.101-125) That means the land-supply effect can be described only as enabling residential-zone assessment on a 2.2 hectare parcel, not as a quantified number of future dwellings. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101)
Bushfire Risk and DDO35
Bushfire is the controlling issue for this rezoning. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.113-117) The amendment proposes to apply Design and Development Overlay Schedule 35, described as DDO35 - Protection from bushfire, to 31 Ayres Street. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.105) The amendment also proposes to amend Schedule 35 to Clause 42.03 to insert the land in Table 1 for bushfire setback distances. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.106-107)
The bushfire report relied on by Council is the Phoenix Wildfire Management 2023 Bushfire Development Plan or Bushfire Development Report for the proposed rezoning of 31 Ayres Street, Argyle. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.107; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.116) The report is summarised as finding low-threat grassland within 150 metres, generally flat-to-upslope landform, and reasonable access and egress. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.116)
Council’s summary records that future development can achieve BAL-12.5 and defendable-space requirements. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.116) The agenda contains a minor internal inconsistency on setbacks: one passage says new development requires 20 metres from the northern boundary and 19 metres from the southern boundary, while a later passage says 19 metres from the northern and southern lot boundaries. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.116) That discrepancy should be checked against the actual DDO35 schedule and Phoenix report before using the setback numbers as final implementation requirements. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
Council acknowledges that rezoning 31 Ayres Street may put more people or property at bushfire risk because of the site’s lot size. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117) The proposed mitigation is DDO35, which is intended to guide future development and subdivision by setting defendable-space separation distances, vegetation management, and access requirements. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117)
Access and Emergency Movement
The site is already developed with a dwelling and associated sheds. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.116) Direct access and egress are described as being via Ayres Street and Dairy Flat Road, which run through an urban and developed area for approximately 250 metres before connecting to the Northern Highway. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117) The agenda also notes that Joes Road provides access to the south-east but is unconstructed. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117)
The nearest identified Bushfire Place of Last Resort is the Heathcote location at Holy Rosary Primary School oval, 18 Pohlman Street, approximately 4.5 kilometres north-west of the subject land. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117) The Heathcote Town Centre is also described as approximately 3.4 kilometres north-west along the Northern Highway and assessed as a BAL-LOW place. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117)
The transport implication is limited in the available material. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.97-98) The Head, Transport for Victoria submitted that the amendment does not affect Transport Zone 1 or Transport Zone 2 land, road access arrangements, or the operation of the State Transport Network. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.98) The same submission states that rezoning the single industrial parcel to NRZ will reduce potential traffic generation and is not expected to have a material impact on transport interests. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.98)
Contamination and Suitability for Sensitive Use
The rezoning from an industrial zone to a residential zone triggers the need to test whether the land is suitable for sensitive use. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.117-118) Council states that it reviewed council records, state government databases, and applicant information for properties proposed to be rezoned. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.118) Council’s explanatory report says the planning authority is satisfied that all affected land is not potentially contaminated and that the environmental conditions are suitable for the uses proposed by the amendment. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.118)
For 31 Ayres Street specifically, the explanatory report states that a conclusive preliminary site investigation found the land suitable for residential use. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.123) The actual preliminary site investigation is not included as a source document in the manifest, so the contamination conclusion can be reported only as Council’s stated conclusion, not independently tested against sampling locations, historical uses, or environmental audit logic. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.123)
Policy Fit
Council relies on Clause 11.01-1S Settlement, Clause 11.01-1L Settlement - Greater Bendigo, Clause 11.02-1S Development capacity, Clause 13.01-1S Natural hazards and climate change, and Clause 13.04-1S Contaminated and potentially contaminated land as relevant policy support. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.118-120) Council also states that the site sits within the area affected by Amendment C274gben, which rezoned land in Heathcote to NRZ4. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.123)
The mechanism is therefore a local settlement-alignment change rather than a new settlement boundary decision. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.118-119) Council’s policy case is that the site is in the Heathcote urban area, identified by the Heathcote Township Plan, and capable of being managed for bushfire through DDO35. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-119)
Submissions and Agency Positions
The exhibited amendment received nine submissions, with five opposing and four supporting. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.34) Four opposing submissions concerned the proposed removal of VPO2 from public land near submitters’ properties, and one opposing submission requested that additional land be added to the amendment. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.34-35) The available summary does not identify any unresolved submission directed to the 31 Ayres Street rezoning. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-35)
The Country Fire Authority reviewed the bushfire report and supported rezoning 31 Ayres Street to a residential zone in a letter dated 29 January 2024. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117) Goulburn-Murray Water stated that it had no objection to Amendment C285gben after reviewing the amendment documentation. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.96-97) The Head, Transport for Victoria stated that it had no objection to Amendment C285gben. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.97-98)
Current Status
At the 20 April 2026 Council agenda stage, officers recommended that Council consider the submissions, endorse the officer response as the basis for Council’s Panel submission, request that the Minister for Planning appoint a Planning Panel, and refer all submissions to that Panel. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.33) The explanatory report identified a directions hearing in the week starting Monday 18 May 2026 and a Panel hearing in the week starting Monday 15 June 2026. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101) A further Council report was expected after the Panel’s recommendations to support a decision on whether to adopt the amendment. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.32)
Dependencies
- Blocks: Final residential-zone certainty for 31 Ayres Street is blocked until Amendment C285gben completes the Panel, Council adoption, Ministerial approval, and gazettal pathway. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-33)
- Blocked by: The amendment process is blocked procedurally by unresolved submissions that officers proposed to refer to an independent Planning Panel. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-37)
- Informed by: The 31 Ayres Street rezoning is informed by the Heathcote Township Plan, the Phoenix Wildfire Management 2023 bushfire report, the CFA response, and Council’s contamination screening. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-118; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.123)
- Implements: The rezoning implements the Heathcote Township Plan direction that identified the land as suitable for residential rezoning subject to bushfire assessment. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.107; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.130)
- Conflicts with: The available source does not identify a direct policy or submission conflict about the 31 Ayres Street rezoning, but it does show a general risk-management tension between enabling residential use and ensuring bushfire exposure is controlled. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117)
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The available document identifies Goulburn-Murray Water as an agency with interests in surface water and groundwater quality, use, and disposal, and records no objection from that agency. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.96-97) The available document identifies the Head, Transport for Victoria as responsible for coordinating, providing, operating, and maintaining Victoria’s public transport system, freight rail network, and road system, and records no objection from that agency. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.97-98) The available document identifies the CFA as the relevant fire authority that supported the 31 Ayres Street residential rezoning after reviewing the bushfire report. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.117)
Gaps in This Analysis
The manifest provides only one source document: the 20 April 2026 Council agenda and its extracted attachments. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-136) The Phoenix Wildfire Management 2023 bushfire report is cited and summarised in the agenda but is not available as a standalone source in the manifest. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.116-117) The preliminary site investigation for contamination is also referenced only through Council’s explanatory report and is not available as a standalone source. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.123)
The key analytical gaps are therefore the final DDO35 schedule text for 31 Ayres Street, the Phoenix bushfire report, the preliminary site investigation, any servicing advice for water, sewer and drainage, and any adopted Panel report or Council adoption report after the April 2026 agenda. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.101-125) These gaps limit the analysis because yield, subdivision form, exact defendable-space implementation, contamination evidence, infrastructure capacity, and the final statutory outcome cannot be independently verified from the manifest source alone. (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.101-125)