Grange Planning Brain

title: Amendment C109moor - Merrimu Precinct Structure Plan council: moorabool state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: exhibited last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • agenda-1-april-2026.pdf
  • attachments-1-april-2026.pdf
  • minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf

Amendment C109moor - Merrimu Precinct Structure Plan

Amendment C109moor is the statutory switch that would move Merrimu from a strategic growth-area idea into an incorporated planning framework for urban development, infrastructure charging, native vegetation treatment and small-lot housing controls (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11). The scale is material for Moorabool Shire because the exhibited PSP is described as enabling 8,063 dwellings, about 24,188 people and 1,800 direct jobs on approximately 907 hectares north-east of Bacchus Marsh (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11-12). Council supported making a submission, but not unconditional support for the amendment package, because unresolved transport, DCP, conservation, quarry-buffer, implementation and ordinance issues affect whether the PSP can be administered and serviced in practice (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.7-16).

Background

The amendment sits inside the Bacchus Marsh Urban Growth Framework, which identifies four strategic growth areas: Merrimu, Parwan Station, Parwan Employment and Hopetoun Park North (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.9). DTP-New Communities commenced work on the Merrimu, Parwan Employment and Parwan Station PSPs in 2020, and the three Bacchus Marsh PSPs were paused in July 2023 after the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon was discovered in January 2023 (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11). The Merrimu PSP returned to the 2025 work program after an October 2024 announcement by the Victorian Planning Authority, and Council officers had provided input over the six-year preparation period (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11).

The precinct is described as a plateau north-east of Bacchus Marsh, bounded generally by the Western Freeway and Bacchus Marsh Irrigation District to the south, Long Forest Conservation Reserve to the east, Diggers Rest-Coimadai Road to the north and Gisborne Road to the west (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11). The agenda report states that Plan Victoria includes Merrimu PSP as a key regional housing precinct, making the amendment both a local planning scheme change and a state growth-area delivery mechanism (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11).

DTP-New Communities exhibited the PSP, DCP and NVPP from 6 March to 7 April 2026 according to the executive summary, although the body of the report later records the consultation period as 6 March to 7 April 2025 (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.8, 14). Given the council meeting occurred on 1 April 2026 and the minutes adopted Council’s submission during the live exhibition period, the 2025 date should be treated as a source inconsistency requiring confirmation from the DTP exhibition record (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.7-8).

Analysis

Statutory Effect

C109moor would insert the Urban Growth Zone into the Moorabool Planning Scheme, apply UGZ Schedule 1 to the precinct, and rezone the land to facilitate urban development (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11). In plain terms, the amendment changes the rulebook from rural or pre-urban controls into a PSP-led growth-area control where subdivision, use and infrastructure delivery are assessed against incorporated precinct documents (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11).

The amendment would incorporate four documents into the planning scheme: Merrimu Precinct Structure Plan February 2026, Merrimu Development Contributions Plan February 2026, Merrimu Native Vegetation Precinct Plan February 2026 and the Small Lot Housing Code November 2024 (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). This matters because incorporation gives those documents statutory force rather than leaving them as background guidance (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12).

The amendment also proposes PAO6 for drainage outfalls, with Melbourne Water nominated as acquiring authority, and PAO7 for road upgrades and intersections, with Moorabool Shire Council nominated as acquiring authority (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11-12). That creates two different public-acquisition pathways: drainage land would be tied to Melbourne Water’s role in the drainage services scheme, while road and intersection reservations would fall to Council as the acquiring authority (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11-12).

The amendment would apply an Environmental Audit Overlay to land identified as having high potential contamination, insert a Development Contributions Plan Overlay, amend Clause 52.16 for the Native Vegetation Precinct Plan, and create a determining referral to the Head, Transport for Victoria for applications within 100 metres of land shown for the Bacchus Marsh Eastern Link Road (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). The referral trigger means BMELR is not only a transport project but also a permit-assessment control affecting nearby subdivision and use applications (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12).

Land Supply and Urban Form

The PSP is described as enabling 8,063 dwellings on a 907-hectare precinct, which is about 8.9 dwellings per gross hectare before deductions for roads, schools, conservation, drainage, open space and other non-residential land uses (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11-12). The same source describes a planned population of 24,188 people, which implies roughly 3.0 people per dwelling when divided by the stated dwelling yield (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12).

Council’s report states that Moorabool’s Victorian Government housing target is 20,000 new dwellings by 2051, and that the Merrimu PSP represents 40% of that target (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). The practical implication is that unresolved PSP issues are not marginal local design matters; if the amendment stalls or is materially reduced, a large share of the municipality’s stated housing-target pathway would need to be met somewhere else (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12).

The social infrastructure package is substantial: four schools, two community centres, one indoor recreation centre, three sports reserves, two local town centres and one local convenience centre are identified for the precinct (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). The report also identifies approximately 382.8 hectares of open space, including a linear open-space reserve along the escarpment edge, five conservation areas and a drainage services scheme (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). As a proportion of the 907-hectare precinct, the stated 382.8 hectares of open space is about 42.2% of the gross area, although the source does not provide the net developable area needed to test the final dwelling-density assumptions (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11-12).

Council also requested clearer PSP guidance for existing low-density properties in Davies Court, Drysdale Court, Flanagans Drive, Lindsay Avenue, Streeton Drive and Tucker Court (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). This is an interface issue rather than only a layout issue, because existing low-density lots can complicate road widening, servicing, subdivision sequencing and amenity transitions where a PSP introduces more urban densities around them (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15).

Infrastructure Funding and DCP Mechanics

The exhibited DCP sets a Development Infrastructure Levy of $549,779 per net developable hectare to fund land acquisition and construction for specified roads, specified intersections, community centres and sports reserves, with land acquisition for the indoor recreation centre also included (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.13-14). Because the levy is charged per net developable hectare, the key missing number is the PSP’s net developable area; without it, the total DIL revenue pool and per-dwelling DIL equivalent cannot be independently tested from the available extracted sources (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.13-14).

The exhibited Community Infrastructure Levy is 1,365 per dwelling and is intended to fund construction of three sports pavilions (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.14). Council states that using Bannockburn Southeast DCP unit rates would lift pavilion construction costs to 4.3 million per pavilion and increase the CIL to the Victorian maximum of 1,530 per dwelling (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). Across 8,063 dwellings, the exhibited 1,365 CIL would collect about 11.0 million, while a 1,530 CIL would collect about 12.3 million, a difference of about 1.33 million based on the dwelling yield and levy rates in the report (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.12, 14, 16).

Council’s DCP concerns are not only about the levy amount; they go to auditability and deliverability of the infrastructure schedule (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). The submission seeks one design and cost sheet for each DCP project, land acquisition plans for each transport project, intersection designs overlaid on recent aerial photography, and reconciliation of unit costs where some line items are said to use incorrect rates (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). If those items remain unresolved, Council would inherit a charging and delivery framework that may be difficult to defend, sequence or reconcile when land is acquired and works are delivered (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16).

Council also seeks inclusion of an external Lerderderg Library expansion project because Merrimu is said to generate demand for 936 square metres of additional library floor space (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). This is a service-catchment issue: a residential PSP can create demand outside its mapped boundary, and the DCP question is whether off-site community infrastructure can be treated as attributable to the precinct (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16).

Transport Dependencies

BMELR is the main unresolved transport dependency in the available sources (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Council requests that the project be referred to the Minister for Planning for a decision on whether an Environment Effects Statement is required, and that a Public Acquisition Overlay be applied to reserve land for the road (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). This means BMELR sits at the intersection of environmental assessment, land reservation and road-network capacity rather than being a simple local road item (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15).

Council also recommends a residential lot limit if BMELR is not constructed, with potential external road-network upgrades required before further residential development proceeds (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). The mechanism is important: a lot cap would convert a strategic transport uncertainty into a subdivision staging control, so dwelling delivery would be tied to either BMELR delivery or a tested package of interim external upgrades (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15).

The southern access network is another pressure point (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Council identifies challenges in upgrading Flanagans Drive and Lindsay Avenue to connector-road standard, seeks DCP changes to facilitate their upgrade, flags possible additional land take at Bacchus Marsh Road and Flanagans Drive, and asks that RD-07 on Flanagans Drive fund all four lanes (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Council also seeks forward funding for southern transport projects RD-06, RD-07, IN-08 and IN-09 so those works can be delivered early in the PSP’s development sequence (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15).

Active transport is not resolved in the exhibited package according to Council’s submission (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Council requests an active transport link between Merrimu and existing development in Bacchus Marsh and Darley to reduce car dependence in the new suburb (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Without that connection, the plateau location and separation from the established township increase the risk that early residents depend on private vehicles before local services, schools and centres mature (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.11, 15).

Environmental, Landscape and Buffer Controls

The NVPP is the mechanism for deciding what native vegetation is retained, what is removed and what offsets are required (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.14). The available extracted sources do not provide vegetation quantities, offset amounts or conservation-area boundaries, so the ecological impact cannot be quantified beyond Council’s issue list (Source: attachments-1-april-2026.pdf, p.3).

Council does not support becoming the landowner or manager of the biodiversity conservation reserves (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). Council also requests conservation-area concept plans for the Rescom land so biodiversity values and reserve boundaries are adequately resolved (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15). This is a long-term governance issue: land reserved for conservation still requires an owner, manager, maintenance budget and defensible boundary before urban development is built around it (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.15).

The escarpment linear open space is intended to set development back from bushfire hazard, erosion risk and agricultural amenity impacts, and to keep development visually recessive when viewed from Bacchus Marsh (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). Council requests a modified cross-section showing how that open space will be developed, which indicates that the exhibited plan identifies the buffer function but does not fully resolve its physical design in the source available here (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16).

The quarry-buffer issue is handled through the proposed UGZ schedule requiring an Air Pollution and Nuisance Dust Assessment for sensitive uses in the quarry buffer area (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16). Council requests EPA consultation on those assessments, which would add technical review by the environmental regulator before sensitive uses such as housing proceed in affected locations (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16).

Ordinance and Implementation Capacity

Council identifies missing ordinance needed for implementation, including schedules to Clause 52.33 for post boxes and dry-stone walls, Clause 53.01 for public open space contribution and subdivision, and Clause 66.04 for referral of permit applications under local provisions (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.17). Those are not cosmetic additions: they determine how subdivision contributions, heritage-like landscape elements and referral processes operate once permit applications begin (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.17).

Council also identifies a discrepancy between the Land Capability Assessment and the proposed Environmental Audit Overlay (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.17). The available extracted sources do not include the Land Capability Assessment text, so the nature of that discrepancy cannot be tested here (Source: attachments-1-april-2026.pdf, p.3).

Implementation capacity is a stated risk for Council (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.17). Officers note workforce and financial implications if the PSP is approved, identify staff required for implementation, and recommend discussions with the Victorian Government about upskilling and defraying additional resource costs (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.17). This means approval would shift Council from amendment advocacy into a long-running delivery role covering permits, DCP administration, land acquisition, infrastructure coordination, open-space maintenance and community-facility planning (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.16-17).

Current Status

On 1 April 2026, Council resolved to adopt the Appendix 2 submission as its submission to DTP-New Communities, authorise the Executive Manager Community Planning and Development to negotiate with DTP-New Communities and other stakeholders, and note that unresolved submissions are likely to be referred to a Standing Advisory Committee (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, p.8). The minutes record that a further Council submission would be prepared for any SAC hearing to address amendment issues not resolved through negotiations (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, p.8).

The amendment should therefore be treated as exhibited and unresolved, not approved (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, p.8). The next statutory risk point is the post-exhibition pathway: negotiated changes may narrow issues, but unresolved matters are expected to move to a Standing Advisory Committee process before finalisation (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.8-9).

Dependencies

  • Blocks: Urban subdivision and PSP-scale housing delivery in Merrimu depend on C109moor incorporating the PSP, DCP, NVPP and Small Lot Housing Code into the Moorabool Planning Scheme (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12).
  • Blocked by: Unresolved transport capacity, BMELR land reservation and environmental assessment, DCP cost reconciliation, conservation reserve governance, quarry-buffer review, EAO/Land Capability Assessment alignment and Council implementation resourcing remain unresolved in Council’s submission (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.15-17).
  • Informed by: The amendment package is informed by the Merrimu PSP, Merrimu DCP, Merrimu NVPP and Small Lot Housing Code, although the extracted attachment text does not expose the full content of those documents (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12; Source: attachments-1-april-2026.pdf, p.3).
  • Implements: The amendment implements the Bacchus Marsh Urban Growth Framework’s identification of Merrimu as one of four strategic growth areas and contributes to the Victorian Government’s 20,000-dwelling target for Moorabool by 2051 (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.9, 12).
  • Conflicts with: The available sources do not identify a direct policy conflict, but they record unresolved tensions between housing delivery, BMELR timing, conservation reserve management, quarry buffers, contamination controls and Council’s delivery capacity (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.15-17).

The PSP is state-led through DTP-New Communities, formerly the Victorian Planning Authority, and Council’s role is both local planning authority and future implementation agency (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.8). Melbourne Water is nominated as acquiring authority for PAO6 drainage outfall land, which creates an infrastructure-authority dependency outside Council’s direct land-acquisition role (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.11). Transport for Victoria would become a determining referral authority for applications within 100 metres of land shown for BMELR, tying local permit decisions to state transport oversight (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.12). EPA involvement is requested for air pollution and nuisance dust assessments in the quarry buffer, which would add environmental-regulator input to sensitive-use decisions (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, p.16).

Gaps in This Analysis

The largest gap is source depth: the manifest includes the agenda, minutes and a large attachment PDF, but the extracted text for the attachment largely exposes the table of contents and page markers rather than the detailed PSP, DCP, NVPP, ordinance, plans, cost sheets or Council submission text (Source: attachments-1-april-2026.pdf, p.3). This prevents independent testing of the net developable area, DCP project list, DCP total costs, land-budget tables, native vegetation losses, conservation reserve sizes, drainage scheme design, road cross-sections, BMELR modelling assumptions, quarry-buffer extent, contamination mapping and the exact wording of proposed controls (Source: attachments-1-april-2026.pdf, p.3).

The source set also does not include public submissions received by DTP-New Communities, so this page cannot count submitters, separate agency issues from landowner issues, or test which unresolved issues are likely to proceed to the Standing Advisory Committee (Source: minutes-omc-1-april-2026.pdf, p.8). A future gap-fill should target the DTP or Engage Victoria amendment page for the exhibited Merrimu PSP, DCP, NVPP, ordinance, background technical reports, public submissions and any Standing Advisory Committee material (Source: agenda-1-april-2026.pdf, pp.13-14).

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