title: Woodend Town Structure Plan and Neighbourhood Character Study council: macedon-ranges state: vic category: growth-area classification: MINOR status: adopted last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf
- Woodend Structure Plan webpage
- woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf
- woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf
- woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf
Woodend Town Structure Plan and Neighbourhood Character Study
The Woodend Town Structure Plan and Neighbourhood Character Study is an adopted council-led structure plan that manages Woodend as a contained district town rather than a major greenfield growth front (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.31). Its practical effect is to hold urban growth inside the Amendment C84 town boundary until monitoring shows less than 15 years of residential land supply, while using neighbourhood character controls to shape the form of infill and any later expansion (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.33-35).
The plan matters because it turns a simple land-supply question into a constraint-management framework: housing capacity, town character, bushfire risk, flooding, reticulated services, landscape gateways and industrial land supply are treated as linked decisions rather than separate topics (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.31-35; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-42).
Background
Council adopted the plan on 28 May 2014 after a five-stage process covering background analysis, draft plan preparation, public exhibition, final plan preparation and a planning scheme amendment stage (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.1, 3). The project was prepared by Planisphere with Urban Enterprise, GTA Consultants and TGM contributing population, transport and infrastructure analysis (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.2).
The plan responded directly to Amendment C84, which sought to implement the Macedon Ranges Settlement Strategy, and to the C84 Panel’s request that Woodend be assessed for residential, commercial and industrial land supply, preferred and non-preferred greenfield areas, infill locations and medium-density locations (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.31-32). The plan also used 2011 Census data because the earlier Settlement Strategy had relied on 2006 data (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.31).
The source base shows that the structure plan is not a Precinct Structure Plan and does not operate as a full development contributions framework; it is a council structure plan that guides planning scheme policy, zones, overlays, capital works, advocacy and later master planning (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.11). A 2025 council agenda shows that its neighbourhood character content has been translated into operative planning controls, with Clause 11.01-1L Settlement - Woodend and Clause 15.01-5L Neighbourhood Character - Woodend applied to a live planning permit assessment in the Garden Setting Precinct (Source: final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf, pp.57, 62, 65-66).
Analysis
Growth Boundary and Land Supply Mechanism
The plan’s central mechanism is a growth trigger rather than an immediate rezoning program (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.33-35). Woodend’s 2011 estimated resident population was 3,463 people, and the plan adopted 1.35 percent annual growth as the most likely projection within a broader tested range of 1.13 percent to 1.76 percent (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.31-32). On that assumption, Woodend was projected to reach 4,842 people by 2036 (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.32).
The housing demand calculation converted population growth into 20 to 21 new dwellings per year using an average household size of 2.6 people, producing an estimated 15-year demand of about 300 dwellings (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.33). The land-supply assessment identified 468 potential lots inside the existing town boundary, then applied a 20 percent discount for land that may not be released to the market, reducing the effective supply estimate to 374 lots (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.33). At the projected take-up rate, that discounted supply represented 18 to 19 years of supply, so the plan concluded that no immediate residential rezoning was required (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.33).
This is the key cause-and-effect chain: because discounted internal capacity exceeded the 15-year benchmark, the plan directed residential growth to vacant, underused and infill land inside the boundary rather than to new greenfield expansion (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.33-35). Expansion outside the town boundary, or rezoning rural land inside it, is only supported after a review shows less than 15 years of supply or updated census data shows materially changed growth trends (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.9).
The plan therefore protects Woodend from incremental boundary creep by requiring a structured review before expansion, but it does not permanently close off growth beyond the boundary (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35). It identifies the east and north-east as preferred longer-term investigation directions, while treating the north-west as materially more constrained because of access, landscape, cultural, environmental and flooding issues (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.9-10).
Neighbourhood Character as a Development Capacity Control
The plan uses neighbourhood character as a capacity filter, not only as an aesthetic policy (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.39-43). Seven character precincts are identified: Historic Residential, Township Residential, Garden Setting, Bush Setting, Bush Rural Living, Large Lot Rural Living and Large Lot Township (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.39-42). The preferred character statements vary the expected lot pattern, setbacks, landscaping, fencing, building scale and role of vegetation across those precincts (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.40-42).
The Township Residential precinct is the main mechanism for housing diversity because it is close to the town centre and transport services and can accommodate a greater degree of change than peripheral low-density areas (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.42-43). The plan recommends the General Residential Zone for the Township Residential precinct to allow more flexibility for medium-density housing, while applying the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to Historic Residential, Garden Setting, Bush Setting, Bush Rural Living and Large Lot Township areas to support lower scale and density outcomes (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.43-44). Large Lot Rural Living areas were recommended to remain in the Low Density Residential Zone because that zone manages larger lots and service-connection issues (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.44).
The downstream effect is that Woodend’s theoretical lot supply is narrowed by character expectations before it becomes practical capacity (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.33, 43-45). For example, the plan allows medium-density housing near the centre but requires canopy-tree space, landscape setbacks, building separation and designs that avoid a compressed suburban form (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.43-45). It recommends one canopy tree at least 6 metres high per 400 square metres of site area for medium-density development, with a minimum 4 metre clear area around the trunk free of buildings or hard paving (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.45).
The 2025 agenda demonstrates the statutory afterlife of this framework (Source: final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf, pp.57, 65-66). In assessing a proposed childcare centre at 23 Buckland Street, officers identified the site as being in the Woodend Garden Setting Precinct under Clause 15.01-5L and assessed the proposal against spacing, canopy-tree, low-scale and front-fence expectations drawn from the Woodend Town Structure Plan and Neighbourhood Character Study (Source: final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf, pp.65-66). That shows the plan now functions as a live design and amenity reference, not just as a historical background report (Source: final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf, pp.65-66).
Future Investigation Areas and Constraint Logic
The east investigation area extends from the town boundary to the Calder Freeway and is in the Rural Living Zone Schedule 1 with a 40 hectare minimum lot size (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.11-12). It is affected by ESO4, VPO9, HO272 in the north, Five Mile Creek-related LSIO constraints and tributaries that may require LSIO review and riparian buffers (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.11-12). The plan treats the Calder Freeway as a logical physical edge but requires landscape buffering so housing remains obscured from the freeway, including an indicative 50 metre buffer near the freeway interface (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.12-14).
The north-east investigation area is mostly Farming Zone land with a 40 hectare minimum lot size and includes a strip inside the existing town boundary east of Woodend-Lancefield Road (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.14-15). It is not affected by the Bushfire Management Overlay, but it contains flood constraints near Five Mile Creek, watercourses requiring riparian buffers, gateway views from the Calder Freeway, the Flint Hill property and the nearby Glen Osmond Farm community site (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.14-16). The plan identifies this area as having the least constraints of the three future expansion options, but it still requires detailed topographic and viewline analysis before any preferred growth option could be selected (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.10, 15-16).
The north-west investigation area is materially more difficult because it includes Rural Conservation and Farming Zone land, ESO4, VPO9, VPO1, SLO1, HO34 for the Avenue of Honour, waterways draining to Five Mile Creek, Slatey Creek floodplain constraints and a recycled water treatment plant buffer of about 300 metres (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.17-19). The plan also identifies difficult access from Montgomerys Lane, Gregory Street and the Avenue of Honour, with the railway line forming a physical barrier to the west (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.20). Its conclusion is cautious: the north-west should not be treated as a future development option at this stage, except after further visual assessment identifies whether any limited parts could be suitable (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.10, 20-21).
Infrastructure Dependencies
The plan’s infrastructure analysis is thin compared with a PSP-level servicing strategy, but it identifies the main hard constraints that would shape infill and any later boundary expansion (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-42). Woodend is identified as a high-risk bushfire town by the CFA and the Loddon Mallee Regional Bushfire Planning Assessment, with risk factors including grasslands north of town, forested land to the south and vegetation within urban and outer areas (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.39). The CFA advice in the appendices says development outside the existing boundary is not automatically ruled out by bushfire risk, but it must be subject to detailed risk assessment and management planning (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.39).
Flooding and drainage are more immediate constraints for land use capacity (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-40). The 1997 drainage study identified Five Mile Creek, Washington Lane Drain, Timber Lane Catchment, Racecourse Reserve Catchment and Goldies Lane Catchment as known flooding or drainage hotspots (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-40). The appendices state that areas outside the town boundary had not been studied for flood risk, so any future expansion would require floodway investigation before land could be confidently planned (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.40).
Sewerage is a binding dependency because Western Water’s sewerage network had capacity issues from stormwater infiltration and household demand, while some properties still relied on private septic systems (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.40). The plan records a proposed main sewer line from the treatment facility along Montgomerys Lane and Honeysuckle Lane to service a large proportion of future development north of Savages Lane (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.40). Potable water had sufficient medium-term capacity, but all new water mains and related infrastructure were to be built at developer cost and transferred to Western Water ownership (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.41).
The recycled water plant on Montgomerys Lane is both an infrastructure asset and a land-use constraint (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.41). It supplies the golf course and sporting ovals and may expand to other community facilities, but the plan recommends an Environmental Significance Overlay buffer around the plant in accordance with EPA minimum separation guidance because of odour-control issues (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.41).
Activity Centre, Employment Land and Transport
Woodend’s activity-centre strategy is containment rather than strip expansion (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.51-53). The plan records about 12,700 square metres of retail floorspace and 6,690 square metres of other commercial floorspace, with recent permits expected to add 4,150 square metres and vacant commercial land of about 5,000 square metres (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.51-52). Over 15 years, the plan estimated a need for 2,700 square metres of additional retail floorspace and 3,000 square metres of other commercial floorspace, requiring about 1.6 hectares of land once access, parking and landscaping are allowed for (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.52). Because existing vacant Commercial 1 Zone land equated to about 0.5 hectares, the plan estimated a future commercial land gap of about 1.1 hectares and identified land between Urquhart Street, Brooke Street and Templeton Street as a possible eastward extension of about 1.2 hectares (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.52).
Industrial land is treated differently because the town-centre industrial precinct performs a service role despite amenity concerns (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.52-53). The 2010 Industrial Land Strategy found a 12 hectare Woodend industrial land requirement, while the structure plan estimated that 6 to 8 hectares of additional small and medium industrial lots would be required in Woodend over 15 years (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.52). The plan recommends retaining the Brooke and Urquhart Street industrial area as light or service industrial land and rezoning it from Industrial 1 to Industrial 3 so interface impacts can be managed more tightly (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.53, 56). It also supports expansion of the Clancys Lane industrial precinct, subject to freight access and visual-impact issues, and identifies a 1 kilometre separation from residential-zoned land as important to that precinct’s long-term flexibility (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.52).
The transport strategy deliberately prioritises pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, local service vehicles, local private vehicles and then through traffic in that order (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.82). This matters because the plan rejects roundabouts as a default response to High Street safety concerns where traffic volumes did not justify intersection upgrades and where roundabouts would prioritise cars over pedestrians (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.86). Instead, it proposes additional High Street crossing facilities, shared service-lane spaces, median planting upgrades, raised threshold crossings, lower speeds, shared pedestrian-cycle spines and better station access (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.83-88).
Current Status
The plan is adopted and remains publicly presented by Council as the guide for Woodend’s growth and development to 2036 (Source: Woodend Structure Plan webpage). The 2025 council agenda confirms that the plan’s settlement and neighbourhood character content has been incorporated into the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme through Woodend-specific local policy and is being used in permit assessment (Source: final-agenda-council-meeting-22-october-2025_1.pdf, pp.57, 62, 65-66).
The source set does not include the planning scheme amendment record that implemented the 2014 plan, so this page cannot confirm the amendment number, approval date or exact gazettal pathway from the provided corpus (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.11). The plan itself anticipated that relevant 2016 Census data would be available in 2018 and would trigger a land-supply review if supply fell below 15 years, but the source set does not include any later monitoring report or structure plan review (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, p.9).
Dependencies
- Blocks: The plan blocks unsupported residential rezoning outside the town boundary until a review demonstrates less than 15 years of land supply or updated demographic data changes the growth assumptions (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35).
- Blocked by: Future expansion is blocked by the need for detailed assessment of floodways, drainage, bushfire management, reticulated sewer and water, access, landscape buffers, cultural sensitivity and character-based master planning (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.9-21, 39-42).
- Informed by: The plan was informed by the Woodend Strategy Plan 1974, SPP8, the 1992 Land Capacity Study, the 1994 Cultural Heritage and Landscape Study, the 1997 Drainage Study, the 1999 and 2000 Urban Design Framework work, the 2010 Industrial Land Strategy, the 2011 Settlement Strategy, the 2012 Issues Paper and other strategic documents listed in Appendix A (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.1-3).
- Implements: The plan implements the Settlement Strategy direction that Woodend remain a District Town and provides the detailed town-level analysis requested through the Amendment C84 Panel process (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.31-32).
- Conflicts with: The plan contains an unresolved tension between demand for additional housing and the community-supported objective of maintaining a clear town boundary, rural gateways and vegetation-dominant neighbourhood character (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.30-35, 37-45).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The Loddon Mallee South Regional Growth Plan applies across Macedon Ranges, Greater Bendigo, Central Goldfields, Loddon and Mount Alexander and directs most regional growth in Macedon Ranges toward Gisborne, Kyneton, Riddells Creek and Romsey rather than identifying Woodend for high or moderate growth (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.31). Western Water is the servicing authority for sewerage, potable water and recycled water in the plan’s infrastructure analysis, while PowerCor, SP AusNet, Telstra and VicTrack are relevant infrastructure or transport stakeholders for electricity, gas, telecommunications and station-related works (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.40-42; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.85, 88).
The transport strategy links Woodend to regional destinations including Mount Macedon and Hanging Rock through cycling and trail connections, and it treats the Calder Freeway as both a regional access asset and a landscape edge that should not expose Woodend to freeway-visible urban expansion (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.40, 85, 88; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.12-16).
Gaps in This Analysis
The source set is strong for the adopted 2014 structure plan and appendices but thin for implementation history after adoption (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, p.11). Missing documents include the implementing planning scheme amendment material, gazettal record, any post-2016 or post-2021 land-supply monitoring, any updated sewer or drainage servicing strategy, and any later review of the Woodend town boundary (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study.pdf, pp.34-35; Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-42).
The infrastructure appendix is an overview rather than a quantified servicing plan, so this page cannot calculate infrastructure costs, levy rates, drainage land take, sewer augmentation timing or lot-yield losses from floodways (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.39-42). The future investigation area analysis is also preliminary and does not provide developable-hectare totals, parcel-by-parcel constraints, ownership data or tested yields, so any conclusion about east or north-east growth capacity must remain conditional (Source: woodend-structure-plan-and-neighbourhood-character-study-appendices.pdf, pp.9-21).