title: C285gben Private Land Zone Corrections to GRZ, LDRZ and Farming Zone council: greater-bendigo state: vic category: amendment classification: MINOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf
C285gben Private Land Zone Corrections to GRZ, LDRZ and Farming Zone
Amendment C285gben is a broad corrections amendment that mainly fixes mismatches between land ownership, current land use and the mapped planning controls across Greater Bendigo. Its practical effect is not to create a new growth front, but to tidy the planning scheme so private residential and farming land is no longer held in public-purpose zones, and public conservation or open-space land is no longer held in residential, industrial or rural zones (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.33; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.108).
The private-land component is narrow but important administratively: it corrects private dwellings at Townsend Street, Flora Hill from PPRZ to GRZ; private residential land at Mahon Avenue and Swalling Crescent, Kennington from PUZ1 to GRZ; and private rural land at 1800 Calder Alternative Highway, Marong and CA 5 Harris Road, Shelbourne from PCRZ to FZ1 (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.130-131). A separate submitter sought to add 42-44 Rohs Road, East Bendigo to correct an LDRZ/IN1Z boundary anomaly, but Council officers recommended no change because new sites could not be added at that stage of the amendment process and said the sites would be assessed in a future corrections amendment (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.41; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.93-95).
Background
Council resolved on 22 April 2024 to request authorisation, prepare the amendment and exhibit it, subject to Ministerial authorisation (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 the main post-authorisation change being removal of three properties so the proposed rezonings were consistent with Clause 13.02-1S on 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 to 22 December 2025, after the original exhibition period was extended because an administrative error required additional notifications (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.37). Council reported that approximately 800 letters were sent to owners, occupiers and adjoining landowners, with gazette notices, newspaper notices, prescribed-minister referrals, authority referrals and online access through Council and Department of Transport and Planning channels (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.37).
Analysis
Planning Mechanism
The amendment uses zone correction rather than new strategic policy: the underlying mechanism is to align mapped zones with land tenure and actual land function (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.108). For private residential land, the mechanism is simple: PPRZ and PUZ1 are public-purpose zones, so privately owned dwellings partly caught in those zones are proposed to be moved into GRZ where the balance of the site and surrounding residential zoning already sit (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.130-131).
For rural private land, the same logic applies in a non-urban setting: PCRZ is identified by Council as a public-land zone, so private properties at 1800 Calder Alternative Highway, Marong and CA 5 Harris Road, Shelbourne are proposed to be moved to FZ1 to match private ownership, surrounding rural zoning and agricultural use (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131). The correction does not read as a strategic rural-residential expansion; it reads as removal of a public conservation zone from land Council says is privately owned and used for agricultural purposes (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131).
Private Residential Corrections
Five private properties at 2/26, 3/26, 4/26, 5/26 and 22 Townsend Street, Flora Hill are proposed to be rezoned from PPRZ to GRZ because they are privately owned and already developed with dwellings (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.130-131). The planning effect is to remove a public open-space zone from residential land, reducing the chance that ordinary residential use or minor development is filtered through controls designed for public recreation land (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.125; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.130-131).
Parts of 20, 1/20, 2/20, 3/20, 6/20 and 7/20 Mahon Avenue, Kennington are proposed to be rezoned from PUZ1 to GRZ because they are privately owned, developed with dwellings and should not be in a public utility or community-service zone (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.130). 8 Swalling Crescent, Kennington is proposed to receive the same PUZ1-to-GRZ correction for the same reason (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.130-131).
A related but different Kennington correction affects 1A Holland Court, which is a former Coliban Water pipeline easement proposed to be rezoned from PUZ1 to GRZ so it can be divested to adjoining residential landowners after being declared surplus land (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.131). This is not a conventional new housing-supply measure; it is a land-administration correction that would allow residual utility land to be absorbed into adjoining private residential holdings (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.131).
Farming Zone Corrections
The Marong and Shelbourne corrections move private land out of PCRZ and into FZ1 (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131). At 1800 Calder Alternative Highway, Marong, Council states that PCRZ is an error because the property is privately owned, and that FZ1 will facilitate agricultural use and development (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131). At CA 5 Harris Road, Shelbourne, Council states that one parcel is PCRZ and another is FZ1, and the correction to FZ1 is intended to align the whole property with the second parcel and surrounding farming zoning (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131).
The planning consequence is that these sites would be assessed through the rural land-use framework rather than a public conservation framework (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.131). That matters because Council’s strategic assessment says the amendment supports protection of agricultural land by correcting zoning anomalies in farming areas and reducing the risk of inappropriate zoning distorting future land-use decisions (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.120; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.122).
LDRZ Issue and Future Correction Pathway
The clearest LDRZ issue in the exhibited submissions is not part of the officer-supported amendment package; it is a request by the owner of 42-44 Rohs Road, East Bendigo to correct an LDRZ/IN1Z boundary mismatch created after re-subdivision (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.93-95). The submitter requested that the northern part of Lot 2 be rezoned from LDRZ to IN1Z and a small triangle of IN1Z land in Lot 1 be rezoned from IN1Z to LDRZ (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.93-95).
Council officers did not support adding Rohs Road to C285gben, not because the anomaly was rejected on its merits, but because new sites could not be added at that stage of the amendment process (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.41). The officer response says the City will assess those properties in a future corrections amendment, which means this LDRZ/IN1Z boundary problem becomes a follow-on monitoring item rather than a resolved part of C285gben (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.41).
Broader Amendment Context
Although this page focuses on private GRZ, LDRZ and FZ corrections, C285gben also rezones public open-space, creek-corridor and conservation land to PPRZ or PCRZ; removes VPO2, DPO4 and selected Heritage Overlay mapping; applies new Heritage Overlay controls; updates Clause 43.01, Clause 53.01 and Clause 72.04; and applies DDO35 bushfire controls to 31 Ayres Street, Argyle (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.102-107). Council describes the amendment as correcting zoning and overlay mapping errors and anomalies, removing unnecessary planning overlays and correcting planning scheme text (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.33).
The amendment also includes a privately owned property at 31 Ayres Street, Argyle proposed to move from IN3Z to NRZ4 after being identified in the Heathcote Township Plan 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.108; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.130). Council says the bushfire assessment found BAL-12.5 could be achieved with 20 metre and 19 metre setbacks, and DDO35 is proposed to secure bushfire mitigation requirements on that land (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, pp.116-118).
Submissions and Contested Issues
Nine submissions were received: five opposing and four supporting (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.34). The four supporting submissions came from public authorities and Taungurung Land and Waters Council, while four opposing resident submissions concerned VPO2 removal from public land and one opposing submission sought inclusion of additional land (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.34).
The unresolved issue is ecological assurance on public conservation and parkland, not the private GRZ or FZ corrections (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.34-36). Submitter 1 opposed removal of VPO2 from 20-28 Maccullagh Street, Golden Gully, and Submitter 2 opposed removal of VPO2 from CA190D Faugh-A-Ballagh Road, Spring Gully; Council’s response is that PPRZ or PCRZ zoning plus Parks Victoria management makes VPO2 redundant (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.40-41).
The key cause-and-effect point is that removing VPO2 does not itself rezone land for development, but it does remove one planning-scheme layer that nearby residents see as an additional vegetation safeguard (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.40-41; Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.56-89). Council relies on the Victorian Government Practitioner’s Guide, the Parks Victoria Act 2018 management role, and the underlying PPRZ/PCRZ purposes to argue that the overlay duplicates public land management rather than adding a necessary control (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.36).
Data Quality and Internal Consistency
The source material contains a counting issue that should be treated carefully in later analysis. The explanatory report says the amendment corrects zoning anomalies or mapping errors to 40 properties, then says 23 are publicly owned or managed and 17 are privately owned, which totals 40; however, the next paragraph refers to the remaining two properties owned by Coliban Water (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.107-108). This does not affect the direction of the amendment, but it means any final inventory of affected properties should be checked against the exhibited mapping table and adopted amendment documents before being used as a definitive count (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.125-129).
Current Status
At the 20 April 2026 Council meeting, officers recommended that Council note the explanatory report, consider submissions, endorse the officer response as the basis for Council’s Panel submission, request the Minister for Planning to 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 exhibited explanatory report listed a directions hearing in the week starting 18 May 2026 and a Panel hearing in the week starting 15 June 2026 (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.101).
Council also proposed to tell the Panel that a boundary error had been inadvertently created in the exhibited Locality of Bendigo map in the Clause 53.01 schedule, and that the only intended Clause 53.01 changes were updates to the street names Havlin Street East and Charleston Place (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.33-36). More than 40 days had elapsed after submissions closed, but the Minister for Planning granted an extension to the Ministerial Direction No.15 timeframe because officers had been working to resolve submissions before requesting a Panel (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.37-38).
Dependencies
- Blocks: Final correction of private-zone anomalies at Townsend Street, Mahon Avenue, Swalling Crescent, 1800 Calder Alternative Highway and CA 5 Harris Road depends on C285gben completing the Panel, adoption and approval pathway (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.33, 130-131).
- Blocked by: The amendment is procedurally blocked by two unresolved submissions on VPO2 removal, which require referral to an independent Planning Panel unless Council changes or abandons the amendment (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.34-37).
- Informed by: The private residential and farming corrections are informed by land ownership, current residential or agricultural use, surrounding zoning and the Victoria Planning Provisions logic that public-purpose zones should not apply to private land unless justified (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.125, 130-131).
- Implements: The amendment implements routine planning-scheme maintenance, the Heathcote Township Plan for 31 Ayres Street, the Greater Bendigo Public Space Plan for several public open-space corrections, and state planning objectives for orderly land use, biodiversity, open space, heritage and agricultural land protection (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.108, 119-122, 131-134).
- Conflicts with: The main tension is between Council’s view that VPO2 duplicates public land management on PPRZ/PCRZ land and residents’ view that removing VPO2 reduces visible planning-scheme protection for vegetation and wildlife in parts of Bendigo Regional Park (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.36, 40-41, 56-89).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The amendment involves state and regional agencies rather than adjacent-council coordination. DEECA is an affected landowner for multiple public conservation and parkland corrections, Parks Victoria is identified as the land manager for Bendigo Regional Park land, Coliban Water owns former utility land at Kennington and Epsom, Goulburn-Murray Water gave no objection, and Head, Transport for Victoria gave no objection because the amendment does not affect Transport Zone 1 or 2 land, road access arrangements or the State Transport Network (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.40, 96-98, 108, 123-124, 131).
The Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation is relevant to the Big Hill correction because CA 2011 Calder Highway is described as part of Greater Bendigo National Park jointly managed by Parks Victoria and the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.133). Taungurung Land and Waters Council lodged a supporting submission, but the extracted agenda does not provide the substance of that support beyond identifying it as one of the supporting submissions (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, p.34).
Gaps in This Analysis
Only one source document was available: the 20 April 2026 Council agenda text containing the officer report, submissions, explanatory report and mapping tables (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.32-135). The analysis is therefore limited because it does not include the final Panel report, any adopted amendment documents, gazettal material, the full planning scheme map set, title information for each affected lot, the Phoenix Wildfire Management bushfire report, the preliminary site investigation for 31 Ayres Street, the Heathcote Township Plan, the Greater Bendigo Public Space Plan, or the heritage statements of significance (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.101, 108, 116-124, 131-134).
The most important follow-up gap for this specific page is the future corrections pathway for 42-44 Rohs Road, East Bendigo, because the C285gben submission identifies a live LDRZ/IN1Z anomaly that Council deferred to a later corrections amendment (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.41, 93-95). The second important gap is the Panel outcome on VPO2 removal, because the Panel’s findings will determine whether Council’s redundancy argument for public conservation land is accepted, modified or rejected (Source: agendas-and-meeting-minutes-city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-april-20-2026-agenda.pdf, pp.33-37, 40-41).