title: Ballan Structure Plan council: moorabool state: vic category: growth-area classification: MAJOR status: adopted last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- 2015-12-02-021215-omc-minutes.pdf
- 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf
- 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf
- 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf
- 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf
Ballan Structure Plan
The Ballan Structure Plan is a township growth and implementation framework for Ballan that tries to do two jobs at once: provide a 15-year land-supply pathway and prevent new subdivision from eroding the town’s low-scale, tree-lined and river-connected character (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.3-5). Its main planning mechanism is not immediate subdivision approval; it sets up future planning scheme changes, including revised local policy, residential zone schedules, Design and Development Overlays, Development Plan Overlays, an open-space schedule, and Urban Growth Zone pathways for future precinct planning (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.4, 13, 46-47).
The plan’s central allocation decision is to keep the Western Growth Corridor as the short-term greenfield pathway, recognise the Eastern Infill Area as a short-term edge-of-town option, and identify the Southern Growth Corridor as a medium- to long-term corridor requiring further infrastructure, buffer and agency work (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.34-40). Council adopted the plan on 17 December 2015 for the purpose of exhibiting a planning scheme amendment and resolved to seek authorisation from the Minister for Planning to implement it in the Moorabool Planning Scheme (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25).
Background
Council resolved in 2011 to prepare a new structure plan for Ballan to guide the town’s form over a 15-year period, identify physical and social infrastructure needs, provide policy and urban design direction, incorporate an Inglis Street streetscape master plan, and involve the community and stakeholders (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, p.7). The process was shaped by the release of Victoria’s new residential zones, the Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee process, later recreation strategy work, and additional council assessment of demography, infill development, heritage, environment and servicing (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.7-8).
The regional policy setting is the Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan, which identified Ballan as a rural service centre in the peri-urban area between Melbourne and Ballarat and supported residential growth that respects rural character and environmental attributes (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.5). That regional policy also directed that further residential land supply be considered to the west or south of the town and recognised that additional infrastructure would be required for future growth (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.5).
The first adoption attempt at the 2 December 2015 ordinary meeting was deferred to a special meeting in Ballan before Christmas 2015 (Source: 2015-12-02-021215-omc-minutes.pdf, pp.90-102). The special meeting on 17 December 2015 carried the original motion to adopt the plan for amendment exhibition purposes, authorise amendment preparation, request Ministerial authorisation, and exhibit the amendment under Part 3 Division 1 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25).
Analysis
Land Supply, Demography and Housing Form
The plan starts from a 2011 Ballan township population of 2,052 people and a wider Ballan-area population of 2,744 people, with the wider area having grown by 467 people since 2006 (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.7). It tests three percentage-growth scenarios over a 15-year horizon from 2011: 4.7% annual growth producing about 4,090 people by 2026, 3.7% producing about 3,540 people, and 2.7% producing about 3,060 people (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.7-8). The structure plan also records a 2011 dwelling base of 871 dwellings, of which 785 were occupied and 86 vacant, and uses a projected 2026 household size of 2.38 people and a 9.9% vacancy assumption to estimate demand for about 420 to 1,040 additional dwellings by 2026 (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.9).
The mechanism is important: the plan does not simply equate growth with greenfield expansion. It identifies changing household composition as a reason to provide more centrally located 1- and 2-bedroom dwellings, because Ballan had 217 single-person households and 218 couple-only households in 2011 while 81% of dwellings had three or more bedrooms (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.8-9). That mismatch supports infill near shops, the station and health services, but the plan limits that infill through character controls so density does not rely on narrow court-style subdivision that weakens the older grid pattern (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.16-18, 29-30).
The plan states it can meet projected demand for an additional 350 dwellings, but its own scenario testing shows a wider 2026 requirement of 420 to 1,040 dwellings depending on growth assumptions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.9-10). The practical implication is that the plan’s 15-year land-supply position is sensitive to growth rate: under the lower scenarios, infill plus the western and eastern pathways may be sufficient, but under the higher scenario the plan depends more heavily on timely rezoning and infrastructure resolution in the growth corridors (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.34-40).
Growth Corridor Sequencing
The Western Growth Corridor is the immediate greenfield focus because it was already identified in the Ballan Framework Plan as the next urban growth area and council considered it able to demonstrate an ability to be serviced (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, p.10; Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.24, 39). The plan proposes applying the Urban Growth Zone to the western corridor so a future Precinct Structure Plan can resolve layout, density, heritage, flora and fauna, open space, landscape, servicing and infrastructure contributions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.24, 39-40).
The western corridor is not unconstrained. The plan records community concerns about visibility, rural landscape change, distance from the town centre and station, and the relationship with the Werribee River Corridor (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.24, 39). The proposed response is a landscaped edge, varied lot sizes, a connected internal road network, tree-lined boulevard treatment to Old Melbourne Road and Geelong-Ballan Road, sensitive interfaces with the Werribee River and Western Freeway, deeding of non-developable drainage land to Council, and pedestrian/cyclist links to the town centre via Old Melbourne Road and the river corridor (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.39-40).
The Southern Growth Corridor has stronger locational logic because it sits closer to the railway station and town centre, but the plan identifies it as medium- to long-term because its development area is affected by the industrial estate, a high-pressure gas transmission pipeline, fragmented ownership, rail interface issues and infrastructure-servicing costs (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.25, 36-38). Council’s 17 December 2015 resolution specifically sought DEDJTR assistance to identify the future extent of the southern corridor and the indicative infrastructure upgrade costs needed to support future Urban Growth Zone application (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.23-25).
The eastern infill site is a smaller but strategically useful release valve. It was identified through exhibition opposite Sunline Court and slopes toward the Werribee River, allowing potential development with reduced visibility from Old Melbourne Road while transferring river-front floodplain land into public access and possibly supporting an arboretum function (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.26, 35). Its implementation depends on a proponent-led rezoning, site-specific development controls, infrastructure contributions and amendment to Clause 52.01 open-space requirements (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.35).
Infrastructure Dependencies and Cost Allocation
Water supply appears less binding than sewer, drainage and transport. Central Highlands Water is identified as the water and sewer authority, Ballan’s reticulated water is supplied from the Lal Lal treatment plant, and a hydraulic model test of the Ballan water system found capacity for more than 1,000 additional properties without major upgrade works (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43). Higher-elevation locations such as Kerrins Lane and Mount Gorong are identified as more difficult and expensive to service than alternative locations, which matters most for southern and outer growth decisions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43).
Sewer is more structurally constrained because Ballan’s sewer mains gravitate to a single Jopling Street pump station and are then pumped about 5 kilometres south-east to the Ingliston Road wastewater treatment plant (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43). The plan states that most framework-plan areas can be serviced but may require infrastructure upgrades, while previous proposals identified financial constraints for some Residential 1 Zone parcels, including north-western land and land near Steiglitz Street (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43). For land south of Ballan, previous reports identified likely additional sewerage costs and possible pumping-station requirements (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43).
Drainage is a recurring risk rather than a resolved engineering package. The structure plan states existing drainage is relatively poor, that flood mapping was being prepared, and that urban stormwater discharge would need Water Sensitive Urban Design treatment (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.7). Council and Melbourne Water are responsible for drainage, subdivision runoff must not exceed pre-development flows, and Melbourne Water was investigating drainage retarding basins south of the railway line (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43). The meeting report also records that Melbourne Water flood mapping identified areas subject to inundation in a 1% recurrence interval event and that a flood amendment had been scheduled for exhibition (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.12-13).
Transport infrastructure is tied to corridor staging. The southern corridor principles require traffic reporting, railway-crossing assessment, upgrades to Old Geelong Road, Geelong-Ballan Road and Gillespies Lane intersections, and any road or rail-crossing upgrades identified in a traffic plan (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.37-38). The western corridor requires traffic-plan road works, intersection upgrades to Geelong-Ballan Road and Old Melbourne Road, and pedestrian paths along the Werribee River corridor and Inglis Street (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.39-40).
The contribution framework is explicit but not costed in the available documents. Growth corridors are expected to provide at least 10% open space, split conceptually into 3% local open space within 400 metres of households and 7% for active and passive recreation augmentation (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.37, 39, 42). Residential infill covered by a Development Plan Overlay is also recommended for a 10% contribution where one has not previously been collected, while general residential infill is proposed to pay 6% (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.42). The open-space mechanism matters because Ballan Recreation Reserve may need augmentation or relocation, and a future dual-oval facility would require land acquisition compensated through an infrastructure contribution plan with Council funding the existing-community share (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.41-42).
Character, Heritage and Built Form Controls
The plan treats character as a planning control issue, not only a design preference. Ballan’s valued elements are described as autumnal vegetation, wide streets with established trees, small-scale dwellings, rural views and spaces, the Werribee River corridor, cultural activity and community events (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.15). The proposed statutory response includes Neighbourhood Residential Zone schedules, General Residential Zone schedules, Design and Development Overlays for the commercial area and infill sites, Development Plan Overlays for coordinated subdivision, and future heritage controls following West Moorabool Heritage Study Stage 2a (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.13, 16-17, 46-47).
The most specific residential mechanism is lot-size and permeability calibration by precinct. In the town core, the plan identifies Neighbourhood Residential Zone schedules with minimum lot sizes ranging from 200 square metres to 600 square metres, 50% site coverage, 25% permeability, canopy tree requirements and low-scale built form controls (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.16, 30). In North Ballan, where many Residential 1 zoned lots exceed 3,000 square metres and roads are narrow, without kerb, channel or footpaths, the plan proposes Neighbourhood Residential Zone minimum lot sizes between 850 and 2,000 square metres, plus Low Density Residential Zone minimums of 4,000 square metres (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.31). This deliberately shifts growth away from poorly connected northern land and toward the town core, eastern infill and planned growth corridors (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.18-19, 31).
Heritage remains partly unresolved in the source set. Existing Heritage Overlay controls applied to individual sites, while West Moorabool Heritage Study Stage 1 had identified a precinct and additional sites that were being documented (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.11). The meeting report states that Stage 2a of the West Moorabool Heritage Study had been funded by the Minister for Planning, with landowner consultation to occur in 2016, and that heritage overlays were supported for places identified in Stage 1 (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, p.14). Without the heritage study itself, the exact curtilages, affected parcels and dwelling-yield implications cannot be quantified from this corpus (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, p.14).
Werribee River, Floodplain and Open Space
The Werribee River Corridor is the plan’s main environmental and passive recreation spine. The river corridor is already covered by Environmental Significance Overlay Schedule 2 over a 200-metre corridor, while Environmental Significance Overlay Schedule 1 applies to the whole structure-plan area as a proclaimed water supply catchment (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.11). The plan seeks to designate the river as Ballan’s key passive recreation area, require new development along it to sit above the floodplain, and require subdivisions adjoining it to provide a road and path edge between development and the corridor (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.32-33).
The mechanism is clearest in the western corridor. Western development would be required to provide the floodway as undevelopable land, rehabilitate it before transfer, create a habitat corridor with passive recreation and playground functions, and provide a roadway with off-road bicycle and pedestrian paths as a hard edge to the reserve (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.32). This means the river corridor is both a constraint and an infrastructure asset: it reduces developable land but supplies the open-space and access spine needed to connect the growth area back to the existing town (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.32-33, 39-40).
Submissions and Contested Issues
The plan was exhibited for public comment for four weeks in 2013 and received 43 submissions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, p.8). The main issues were no further development versus higher density, support and opposition for the southern and western corridors, Werribee River protection, street trees and powerlines, eastern infill, North Ballan density, industrial land, drainage, heritage and design overlays, a town square, grassfire risk, a secondary school, and paths, signage and wayfinding (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.8-9).
The strongest spatial contest was west versus south. Multiple submitters preferred southern growth because of proximity to the railway station and town centre, while others opposed southern growth because of drainage, infrastructure, windfarm, gas, wetland or rural-character concerns (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, pp.2-3, 9-11). Council’s response was not to delete either corridor: it retained the western corridor as the short-term option and expanded recognition of the southern corridor as a medium- to long-term investigation area requiring infrastructure, flora and fauna, cultural heritage, industrial buffer, rail, gas and windfarm assessment (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.10, 17).
Agency submissions sharpened the technical risks. APA opposed road construction parallel within gas-pipeline easements, identified rupture consequences, and requested that high-density and sensitive uses be relocated outside defined pipeline proximity thresholds if they exceeded AS2885 assumptions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, pp.4-5). The Department of Environment and Primary Industries supported APA’s position and identified restrictions on sensitive uses within 215 metres of the pipeline (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, p.5). Melbourne Water supported stronger treatment of the Werribee River as a connected open-space corridor and sought WSUD integration and possible additional stormwater-treatment land (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, p.8). CFA confirmed Ballan was not within the Bushfire Management Overlay but was susceptible to grassfire attack, requiring grassfire consideration at the township periphery and in river-corridor revegetation (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, p.8).
Current Status
The last evidenced statutory step in the source set is Council’s 17 December 2015 resolution adopting the Ballan Structure Plan for the purposes of exhibiting a planning scheme amendment, authorising the CEO to prepare amendment documents, requesting Ministerial authorisation under sections 8A(4) and 9(2) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, and resolving to exhibit the amendment after authorisation (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25). The adopted motion also made secondary-school provision a high advocacy priority for Ballan in the 2016/17 Council Plan and sought DEDJTR assistance on the southern corridor extent and infrastructure-cost evidence for future Urban Growth Zone application (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.23-25).
The available corpus does not include a later gazettal notice, panel report, approved amendment documentation, final Clause 21.08 text, or evidence that the western Urban Growth Zone, open-space schedule, residential zone schedules or overlays were ultimately approved (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25). The safest reading is therefore: adopted by Council as a strategic and amendment-exhibition basis, with final planning-scheme implementation unverified in the supplied documents (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25).
Dependencies
- Blocks: Uncoordinated subdivision of large residential parcels, particularly in North Ballan and other areas where the plan requires Development Plan Overlay or policy coordination before further density is supported (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.29-31).
- Blocks: Full urban development of the western and southern corridors until future Precinct Structure Plans, infrastructure contribution arrangements, traffic assessments, servicing reports, drainage design and amendment processes are completed (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.37-40).
- Blocked by: Ministerial authorisation, planning scheme amendment exhibition, potential panel process, adoption and approval before the proposed controls gain statutory effect (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.19, 22).
- Blocked by: Southern corridor definition, gas-pipeline safety management, industrial buffer design, rail-crossing upgrades, sewer augmentation, drainage/floodplain resolution and infrastructure-cost evidence (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.25, 36-38, 43-44; Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.23-25).
- Informed by: Community consultation, RZSAC-related residential-zone assessment, demography, infill, heritage, environment, servicing, traffic and landscape sub-consultancies, open-space work and the West Moorabool Heritage Study process (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.7-8).
- Implements: Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan directions for Ballan to grow within a managed urban boundary while protecting historic village character, rural setting and environmental attributes (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.5-6).
- Conflicts with: Some community preferences for no further development, some preferences for south-only growth, some preferences for west-only or short-term western growth, and some agency constraints around gas, drainage, river management and grassfire risk (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, pp.1-13).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
Central Highlands Water is the relevant water and sewer authority, and its network capacity and augmentation requirements directly affect the staging of infill, western, southern and higher-elevation growth areas (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.43). Melbourne Water and the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority have roles in Werribee River, waterway and drainage management, so river-corridor access, retarding-basin planning, floodplain treatment and WSUD are not solely municipal matters (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.42-43). VicRoads standards are embedded in the required intersection treatments for Geelong-Ballan Road, Old Melbourne Road, Old Geelong Road and Gillespies Lane, while VicTrack was identified by Council officers as requiring Council or development funding for railway-crossing improvements triggered by urban expansion (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.37-40; Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, p.13).
The gas transmission pipeline creates a state-regulated infrastructure constraint because SP AusNet owned the gas assets, Tenix Networks maintained them, APA made a submission about easement and safety controls, and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries supported restrictions on sensitive uses near the pipeline (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, p.44; Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1a-table-of-submissions.pdf, pp.4-5). Education provision also sits outside Council’s direct statutory control, because the structure-plan report states that local government is not responsible for planning educational facilities and that site identification requires the acquiring authority’s consent (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.15-16).
Gaps in This Analysis
This analysis is limited by the absence of later amendment documents showing whether the adopted structure-plan controls were approved, modified, abandoned or superseded (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25). Missing documents include the final Amendment C69 package, Ministerial authorisation, exhibition documentation, submissions to the amendment, any panel report, adoption report, approval notice, gazettal notice, and the final incorporated or translated planning scheme provisions (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.19, 22).
Several technical studies are referred to but not included in the source set, including traffic and landscape sub-consultancy work, detailed servicing reports, Melbourne Water flood mapping, drainage-retardation investigations, West Moorabool Heritage Study Stage 2a, the Recreation and Leisure Strategy, the South West Landscape Assessment Study, and the earlier 2004 Hansen Partnership structure-plan work (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-agenda.pdf, pp.7-8, 13-14; Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.34, 43). Because those documents are absent, this page cannot quantify corridor gross area, net developable area, parcel-by-parcel yield, drainage land take, intersection costs, sewer augmentation costs, heritage curtilages or open-space acquisition cost (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-att-7.1c-ballan-structure-plan-final.pdf, pp.37-44).
A further corpus gap is the absence of the final planning scheme state after 2015. The source documents establish Council’s adopted strategic intent, but they do not prove whether the Urban Growth Zone, Design and Development Overlays, Development Plan Overlays, Clause 52.01 schedule, or residential zone schedules became operative planning controls (Source: 2015-12-17-171215-smc-minutes.pdf, pp.22-25).