Grange Planning Brain

title: Amendment C157mith - Mitchell Planning Scheme Policy Translation council: mitchell state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: approved last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • 2912017.pdf
  • web-research-L1-planning-scheme-current-mitchell-pdf.txt
  • web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt
  • web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-north-central-review.txt

Amendment C157mith - Mitchell Planning Scheme Policy Translation

Amendment C157mith is the policy translation amendment that reset Mitchell’s local planning policy architecture around a fast-growth municipality with two different planning tasks: urban growth inside Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary and rural-township management north of it (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-9). Its practical effect is not a single rezoning or project approval; it is a decision-making framework that now guides how later PSPs, ICPs, structure plans, transport planning, heritage controls, flood mapping and local policies are expected to fit together (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1306-1308).

Background

The translated Municipal Planning Strategy begins from Mitchell’s geography: the southern boundary sits inside Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary about 40 kilometres north of the Melbourne CBD, while the northern part extends beyond Seymour into the Goulburn Valley food bowl (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.7). The municipality covers 2,861 square kilometres and includes part of Melbourne’s Northern Growth Corridor (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.7). The scheme states that land inside the Urban Growth Boundary is being developed for housing and employment, while larger settlements outside it include Broadford, Seymour, Kilmore and the Puckapunyal Military Base (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.7).

The population premise is material: the scheme says Mitchell’s population was estimated to double by 2036 to more than 90,000 people, with most of that growth occurring inside the Urban Growth Boundary (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.7). This makes C157mith a major amendment because it reorganises the policy framework for land supply, growth-area sequencing, activity centres, transport corridors, infrastructure delivery, rural land protection and heritage management across the whole municipality (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.7-17).

The current planning scheme records Clause 02, the Municipal Planning Strategy, as introduced by C157mith on 25 January 2024 (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.6). The amendment also introduced or refreshed many local policy clauses dated 25 January 2024, including settlement, Wallan, biodiversity, river health, floodplains, agricultural land, urban design, housing affordability, BIFT, tourism, walking, cycling, public transport, roads, social infrastructure, open space, infrastructure design and integrated water management (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.34-209).

Analysis

1. The Core Mechanism: Translation Changes the Lens for Later Decisions

C157mith is best understood as a policy operating system. It does not itself deliver roads, schools, flood controls, PSPs or open space. Instead, it sets the logic that later decisions must use when weighing competing outcomes: where growth should go, which settlements should intensify, where rural land should be protected, which infrastructure projects matter, and which further strategic work remains unfinished (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-17, 1306-1308).

The mechanism is visible in the structure of the amendment. Clause 02 gives the municipality-wide story and strategic directions; Clauses 11 to 19 translate those directions into topic-specific local policies; Clause 74.01 explains how zones and overlays implement the strategy; and Clause 74.02 lists the work still needed to make the framework operational (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-17, 34-209, 1303-1308). In simple terms, C157mith put labels on the shelves before all the books were written: it organised the planning system, then identified the studies and controls still needed to fill the gaps.

This matters because Mitchell’s growth task is split in two. Inside the Urban Growth Boundary, the scheme points to substantial growth over the next 50 years and identifies 11 precinct structure plan areas to guide population growth and associated infrastructure (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.9). Outside the Urban Growth Boundary, the scheme treats Seymour, Kilmore and Broadford as growing townships with structure-plan roles, while smaller settlements are to retain lower-scale rural lifestyle functions (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.9-10). That distinction is the spine of the translated policy framework.

2. Settlement Strategy: Southern Urban Growth and Northern Township Management

The translated settlement policy directs well-planned and sustainable urban growth inside the Urban Growth Boundary and in identified growth townships (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.9-10). Wallan is identified as an activity centre, Beveridge as a future activity centre, West Beveridge and Lockerbie North as planned smaller town centres, and Lockerbie in Hume Council as the future major activity centre serving southern Mitchell (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.9). This creates a southern activity-centre hierarchy that is not wholly contained within Mitchell, because Lockerbie’s regional role sits across the municipal boundary in Hume City Council (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.9).

The Wallan policy is one of the most important place-based outcomes of the amendment. It applies to Wallan as shown on the Wallan Structure Plan and seeks to support significant population growth while developing Wallan as a fully serviced, well-connected major activity centre and residential area linking the city with the country (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.55). Its strategies combine township character, activity-centre intensification, landscape links, Wallan Creek enhancement, Hadfield Park activation, and a public transport hub around Wallan Station as a V-Line station and future Metro terminus (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.55-56).

For Kilmore, C157mith embeds a different growth logic. The Kilmore policy seeks to support Kilmore’s growth as a peri-urban township and regional hub for education and health, directs residential development to infill and growth precincts, supports the Kilmore-Wallan Bypass, and links development to road, drainage and community facility contributions (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.36-38). For Pyalong, the amendment is much more restrained, supporting limited residential growth and infill within town boundaries around a township service role (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.41-42). For Wandong-Heathcote Junction, the policy avoids residential rezoning outside the settlement boundary and focuses on environmental, heritage, landscape and bushfire-responsive subdivision outcomes (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.43-44).

The practical consequence is that C157mith does not treat all settlements as growth receivers. It directs large-scale urban growth to the southern corridor and selected larger townships, while using settlement boundaries, rural character policies and structure plans to resist dispersed growth in smaller settlements (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.9-10, 36-44).

3. Growth-Area Implementation: PSPs, ICPs and Infrastructure Sequencing Remain the Real Delivery Test

The amendment recognises 11 precinct structure plan areas inside the Urban Growth Boundary, but it does not complete the detailed PSP and infrastructure-contribution work itself (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.9). Clause 74.02 instead requires Council to prepare, and assist the Victorian Planning Authority to prepare, Precinct Structure Plans and Infrastructure Contributions Plans for the Northern Growth Corridor (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307). It also calls for PSPs, ICPs and Development Plans to be reviewed every five years or as necessary based on the amount of development that has occurred (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307).

That means the amendment is enabling rather than final. It sets the strategic expectation for growth but leaves the quantified land budgets, transport triggers, drainage land take, open-space requirements, school sites, community facilities and contribution rates to later PSP, ICP, DCP and structure-plan processes (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.9, 1307). The analytical gap is important: the available corpus does not include the C157mith explanatory report, panel report, exhibited amendment documents, officer report, submission table, or the PSP/ICP technical studies that would quantify those downstream impacts (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

Current state policy now sitting in the scheme requires growth areas to deliver average densities of at least 30 dwellings per net developable hectare within walkable distance of activity centres, train stations, major transport routes and public open spaces, and 20 dwellings per net developable hectare in other growth-area locations (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.53). C157mith’s local framework therefore operates within a state density and sequencing framework: the local strategy identifies where growth and activity centres should be, but the PSP process must convert that into measurable precinct layouts and infrastructure triggers (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.53-54, 1307).

4. Transport: C157mith Makes Movement Infrastructure a Growth Dependency

The transport section of the Municipal Planning Strategy says Mitchell is located on the Hume Freeway, Northern Highway, Goulburn Valley Highway and an extensive rail network linking Melbourne with regional Victoria and New South Wales (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.16). It also states that local public transport is inadequate and that routes and frequencies need to improve as development occurs in the Urban Growth Boundary and larger townships (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.16). This is not just a service-quality issue; it is a sequencing issue because growth-area development relies on the timely delivery of public transport, roads, cycling and walking networks (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.16, 207-209).

The local public transport policy supports upgraded pedestrian links between train stations and town centres in Wallan and Kilmore, a bypass between Craigieburn and Upfield stations to improve the Seymour service, Upfield to Wallan electrification, Beveridge Station, and a fast train link between Melbourne and Albury (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.207). The local road policy supports capacity and safety improvements on the Northern Highway through Wallan and Kilmore, improved east-west links in Beveridge, Wallan and Kilmore, the Wallan/Kilmore bypass, and intersection upgrades at Watson Street, Camerons Lane and Gunns Gully Road on the Hume Highway access network (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.209).

The key planning implication is that C157mith aligns growth with a transport package that is beyond Council-only delivery. Rail electrification, Beveridge Station, Hume Highway access upgrades and the Wallan/Kilmore bypass require state and, in some cases, federal or developer coordination (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.16, 207-209). The further strategic work list confirms this by requiring an Integrated Transport Study within the Urban Growth Boundary to define the Local Transport System (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307). Without that study and related infrastructure funding mechanisms, the policy framework identifies transport needs but does not quantify timing, cost, staging thresholds or delivery responsibility (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307).

5. BIFT and Employment Land: Strategic Employment Is Treated as a State-Scale Function

The amendment places the Beveridge Interstate Freight Terminal at the centre of Mitchell’s employment strategy. The Municipal Planning Strategy states that land straddling Whittlesea and Mitchell has been identified for BIFT, one of the State’s Principal Transport Gateways (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.7). It later states that more than 1,000 hectares of land has been identified for the proposed BIFT and associated freight and logistics industrial area (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.15).

The BIFT local policy applies to land within and adjacent to the identified BIFT area and seeks to develop it as a major economic asset supporting Mitchell and Greater Melbourne (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.170). It requires safe access for freight vehicles and by public transport, cycling and walking; design responses to the Merri Creek corridor; avoidance of land-use conflict with incompatible or sensitive uses; interim uses that do not preclude terminal delivery; early infrastructure including Camerons Lane interchange and a grade-separated rail crossing; and additional east-west links from Wallan South to BIFT to reduce reliance on Watson Street (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.170).

This is a strong example of cause and effect in the translated policy framework. If BIFT proceeds as a freight and logistics precinct, it intensifies the need for arterial road access, rail interfaces, sensitive-use buffers, east-west links and land-use sequencing around Wallan South and Beveridge (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.170). If those infrastructure items lag, the policy objective remains in the scheme but the employment precinct’s delivery pathway is constrained (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.170, 1307).

6. Extractive Industry and the Urban Growth Boundary: The Contested Issue C157mith Did Not Fully Resolve

The most explicit contested issue in the available non-scheme source concerns Council’s attempt to prioritise housing and employment growth over extractive industry inside Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt). The North Central Review reported on 21 February 2023 that Planning Panels Victoria did not support Council’s bid to stop quarries within the Urban Growth Boundary through Amendment C157, and that the panel took issue with proposed policy changes that would have restricted extractive industry activities (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

The article states that the exhibited amendment included a clause to facilitate housing and employment growth above uses that would undermine that delivery, including extractive industry inside the Urban Growth Boundary (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt). It also reports that the panel considered the proposed extractive-industry changes unsupported by Council’s expert, not supported by the state agency responsible for earth resources, and contrary to existing state policy (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt). The article further reports that the panel was not satisfied that a case had been made for giving up potentially high-quality, well-located significant resources across all such resources in the growth area (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

The current scheme outcome reflects a more balanced framework. State growth-area policy now expressly requires constrained areas, including quarry buffers, to be identified in growth-area planning (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.54). Clause 74.01 states that Special Use Zones apply to operating extractive industries, while Urban Growth Zone applies to areas identified for growth inside the Urban Growth Boundary excluding Wallan (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1304-1305). In planning terms, C157mith appears to have translated the growth framework without creating a blanket local policy prohibition on extractive industry within the Urban Growth Boundary (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.54, 1304-1305; Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

This matters for Beveridge North West, Wallan South and other growth-front locations because extractive-resource decisions can affect the timing and shape of later urban development. The panel issue reported in the article suggests that some land may need to be assessed on whether temporary extractive use before urban development produces a better planning outcome than immediate urban conversion (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt). The corpus does not include the actual panel report, so this analysis cannot quantify which resource areas, buffers or parcels were at issue (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

7. Heritage and Aboriginal Cultural Heritage: Mount William Is a Live Implementation Risk

C157mith embeds the Mount William Stone Axe Quarry as a major archaeological place of national significance with cultural and spiritual connections for the Wurundjeri people (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.13). The Municipal Planning Strategy says it is one of the best-preserved examples of prehistoric quarrying and ground-edge hatchet-head manufacturing technologies to survive into the 19th century in southeast Australia (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.13). The strategy also states that a number of places of cultural heritage significance to the Taungurung and Wurundjeri peoples are still to be fully investigated and protected (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.14).

Clause 15.03-2L applies to the Mount William Archaeological Area and seeks to preserve the cultural significance and archaeological fabric of the place and associated artefacts (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.152). It directs development to avoid adverse effects on the cultural significance of the site and to protect the site from unsympathetic development beyond its boundaries but within its visual and activity catchment (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.152). The policy guideline requires consideration of Traditional Owner views for development abutting or encroaching on the Mount William Quarry (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.152).

The implementation risk is explicit: the Mount William local policy expires three years from the gazettal of Amendment C157mith (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.153). Clause 74.02 then requires appropriate heritage controls to be applied to the Mount William Quarry Archaeological Area to replace local policy Clause 15.03-2L (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1308). If gazettal aligns with the 25 January 2024 scheme date, that local policy would need replacement before late January 2027 to avoid a policy gap (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.152-153, 1308). The available corpus does not include the gazette notice or any subsequent amendment creating replacement heritage controls, so this remains a priority analytical gap (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.152-153, 1308).

8. Environmental, Flooding and Rural Land Controls: C157mith Points to Unfinished Mapping Work

The environmental strategy identifies Mitchell’s varied landscapes, waterways, catchments and cleared farmland mosaic, and seeks to protect environmental values while managing growth (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.7, 10-14). Local policy added by C157mith includes biodiversity protection, river health, landscapes, climate change, floodplains, erosion and landslip, salinity, pipeline impacts, truck-movement amenity, agricultural land and sustainable agricultural land use (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.63-129). These policies are broad, but the further strategic work list shows that several technical foundations remain incomplete (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1307-1308).

The scheme calls for completion of flood mapping across the Shire so all rivers and creeks have appropriate controls to manage flooding (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307). It also calls for updated ESO3 waterways mapping to reflect Melbourne Water data and planning controls to protect Hernes Swamp and environs from development encroachment (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1308). These are not minor housekeeping tasks: until flood and waterway mapping is complete, land-use decisions may rely on incomplete spatial controls for flood risk, waterway corridors and environmental protection (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1307-1308).

Rural land is also flagged as unfinished. Clause 74.02 requires a Rural Land and Activities Review to address non-farming uses in the Farming Zone and protect agricultural land, key environmental assets and significant landscapes in rural areas (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307). The Rural Land and Activities Review is the mechanism that should convert the broad rural policy position into more detailed guidance on non-farming uses, rural amenity conflicts, agricultural protection and landscape management (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1307).

Current Status

C157mith is incorporated into the current Mitchell Planning Scheme, with Clause 02 and many local policies dated 25 January 2024 under amendment number C157mith (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-17, 34-209). The current planning scheme was last updated by GC269 on 24 February 2026, so the C157mith framework remains part of the operative scheme as at that compilation date (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.1).

The main unresolved status issues are downstream implementation tasks rather than the amendment’s approval status. Clause 74.02 still lists major strategic work including Northern Growth Corridor PSPs and ICPs, Seymour and Broadford structure plans, regional infrastructure funding frameworks, an infill Wallan DCP, BIFT structure planning, PSP/ICP/DCP reviews, a Greater Beveridge structure plan, an Urban Growth Boundary integrated transport study, environment policy implementation, ESD policy, affordable housing policy, open-space strategy update, industrial and commercial land strategies, flood mapping, Mount William replacement heritage controls and Hernes Swamp protection controls (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1306-1308).

Dependencies

  • Blocks: C157mith does not directly block development, but it sets policy preconditions for later growth-area, township, infrastructure, heritage, environmental and transport decisions (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-17, 1306-1308).
  • Blocked by: Detailed delivery remains blocked or limited by missing downstream PSPs, ICPs, DCPs, structure plans, flood mapping, infrastructure funding frameworks, heritage controls and transport studies identified in Clause 74.02 (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1306-1308).
  • Informed by: The scheme lists C157mith background documents including the Draft Mitchell Growth Area Integrated Transport Strategy 2021-2051, Land Capability Study Technical Report No. 35, Mitchell Open Space Strategy 2013-2022, Mitchell Shire Economic Development Strategy 2016-2021, Mitchell Shire Environment Policy 2020, and Mitchell Shire Tourism and Visitor Economy Plan 2020-2024 (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1248-1249).
  • Implements: The amendment implements the translated Municipal Planning Strategy and local Planning Policy Framework for Mitchell, including the settlement, transport, employment, housing, infrastructure, environment, heritage and rural land framework now embedded in the scheme (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.6-17, 34-209).
  • Conflicts with: The main identified policy tension is between urban growth delivery inside the Urban Growth Boundary and extractive-resource protection, especially where potentially significant stone resources overlap with growth-area land (Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt; Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.54, 1304-1305).

C157mith has cross-boundary implications because southern Mitchell forms part of Melbourne’s Northern Growth Corridor and links to the broader metropolitan growth-area system (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.7, 9). The scheme identifies Lockerbie in Hume City Council as the major activity centre serving southern Mitchell, meaning Mitchell’s settlement hierarchy depends partly on a centre outside its municipal boundary (Source: 2912017.pdf, p.9). The BIFT land also straddles Whittlesea City Council and Mitchell, making freight, employment, arterial road access, rail crossings and sensitive-use interfaces cross-jurisdictional issues (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.7, 15, 170).

Transport dependencies also extend beyond Mitchell. The Upfield to Wallan electrification, Beveridge Station, Craigieburn-Upfield bypass, Melbourne-Albury fast train, Hume Highway access upgrades and Wallan/Kilmore bypass involve state transport planning and regional network consequences beyond a single council area (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.207-209). These projects should be read alongside Northern Growth Corridor, Beveridge Interstate Freight Terminal, Wallan, Beveridge, Lockerbie, Kilmore-Wallan Bypass and Hume Freeway pages when those pages are compiled.

Gaps in This Analysis

This page is limited by a thin source set. The manifest provides two near-duplicate current planning scheme extracts and two duplicate article extracts about the C157mith quarry panel issue. It does not provide the C157mith explanatory report, amendment instruction sheet, exhibited ordinance, tracked changes, maps, submissions, Council adoption report, Ministerial approval documentation, gazette notice, Planning Panels Victoria report, or the technical background documents listed in Clause 72.08 (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1248-1249; Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

Critical gaps to record in _gaps are: the Amendment C157mith Panel Report, because it is the primary source for contested extractive-industry, policy translation and submission issues; the C157mith explanatory report and exhibited amendment package, because they would show the exact statutory changes proposed and adopted; the gazette notice, because it confirms the approval and gazettal date needed to calculate the Mount William policy expiry; and the Draft Mitchell Growth Area Integrated Transport Strategy 2021-2051, because the scheme relies on it for growth-area transport and truck-movement policy but the corpus does not include it (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1248, 1307; Source: web-research-L1-wallan-c157-quarry-panel-ncreview.txt).

Because those documents are missing, this page can identify mechanisms and dependencies but cannot quantify infrastructure costs, PSP land budgets, submission counts, affected quarry-resource areas, parcel impacts, DCP or ICP rates, road-trigger thresholds, open-space land take, or detailed flood and drainage implications (Source: 2912017.pdf, pp.1306-1308).

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