Grange Planning Brain

title: Ballan Strategic Directions council: moorabool state: vic category: strategy classification: MAJOR status: adopted last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf
  • 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf
  • 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf
  • ballan-strategic-directions-mesh-june-2018-part-1.pdf
  • ballan-strategic-directions-mesh-june-2018-part-2.pdf
  • ballan-strategic-directions-mesh-june-2018-part-3.pdf
  • ballan-strategic-directions-part-1-mesh-june-2018.pdf
  • ballan-strategic-directions-part-2-mesh-june-2018.pdf

Ballan Strategic Directions

Ballan Strategic Directions is the settlement, character, infrastructure and land-use framework that repositions Ballan as Moorabool’s secondary growth focus after Bacchus Marsh, while trying to keep growth within a country-town urban form rather than a metropolitan subdivision pattern (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.7). Its practical effect is not a single rezoning: it sets the township boundary, identifies greenfield and infill roles, allocates density expectations, and then relies on future precinct amendments, Development Plan Overlays, Section 173 agreements and infrastructure planning to turn the framework into developable land (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.33-36).

The statutory control point is Amendment C88. The Panel accepted the broad strategic direction but reduced the strategy’s legal force: it recommended that references to Ballan Strategic Directions be removed from policy so the document operates only as background material, with Clause 21.08 and zone schedules carrying the operative planning controls (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.13-15).

Background

Ballan sits 78 kilometres west of Melbourne, 23 kilometres west of Bacchus Marsh and 35 kilometres east of Ballarat, with a 2016 population of 2,985 and a forecast population of 5,910 by 2041 (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.9). The strategy therefore plans for a near-doubling of the township rather than routine incremental growth, but it treats that growth as constrained by town character, Werribee River landform, railway access, servicing capacity and the need to avoid premature fragmentation of greenfield land (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.30-33).

The document was prepared by Mesh for Moorabool Shire, adopted by Council on 1 November 2017 and updated on 14 June 2018 (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.1). It replaced the earlier Ballan Structure Plan and was one component of the wider Moorabool 2041 program, alongside Housing Bacchus Marsh to 2041, the Small Towns and Settlements Strategy, and the Bacchus Marsh Urban Growth Framework (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.11-12).

The evidence base was assembled from prior local studies, including the 2012 Ballan Structure Plan background and movement reports, the 2015 Ballan Structure Plan, the 2003 Ballan Urban Design Framework, the Retail Strategy 2041, Hike and Bike Strategy, Moorabool Industrial Strategy, Economic Development Strategy and West Moorabool Heritage Study (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.24). That evidence base is broad but not complete: the extracts do not include the full technical reports, detailed infrastructure costing, drainage scheme plans, traffic models, or water authority servicing strategies needed to independently test every precondition (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.24).

Analysis

Settlement Boundary and Growth Sequencing

The strategy’s central mechanism is an enduring township boundary. In simple terms, it draws the edge of the town first, then sorts land inside that edge into established character precincts, greenfield growth precincts, lower-density transition areas, open-space corridors and future investigation areas (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.32-34). The boundary is intended to stop scattered outward development, reduce land fragmentation at the township edge, protect farming and environmental land outside the town, and create a stable basis for internal road, path and service planning (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.37-38).

The original framework placed strongest short-to-medium term emphasis on Precinct 5, the Western Growth Precinct, and treated Precinct 6, the Southern Growth Precinct, as medium-to-long term land (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.3-8). Precinct 5 was preferred because it had previous strategic support, relatively consolidated ownership, access to established water and sewerage infrastructure, and the ability to extend the Werribee River open-space network (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.3-6). Precinct 6 had a stronger access relationship to the railway station and recreation reserve, but its barriers were different: gravel roads, rail crossing impacts, industrial and railway amenity issues, a high-pressure gas pipeline along Gillespies Lane, fragmented ownership, and the need for traffic and service investigations before rezoning (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.7-9).

The Panel reframed this sequencing. It accepted that Precinct 5 was likely to move first because there was an active development proposal, but it also found merit in earlier planning south of the rail line and noted that Amendment C88 would not directly prevent earlier development in Precinct 6 (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.18-19). This matters because sequencing is not just a map preference; it determines which infrastructure problem comes first. Precinct 5 brings river interface, freeway noise, western gateway, active open space and whole-of-precinct master planning issues (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.47-49). Precinct 6 brings rail crossing costs, station access, gas pipeline buffers, industrial interface and southern road upgrades (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.7-9).

Land supply evidence was the trigger for the Panel’s stronger intervention. Council’s evidence estimated approximately 360 lots in established areas and 1,100 lots in growth precincts, producing about 27 years of potential supply under the amendment (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.15-16). The Panel split that figure into 6.7 years of established-area supply and 20.3 years of growth-precinct supply, then reasoned that a 20-year greenfield supply means rezoning needs to begin well before exhaustion: if supply is exhausted in 2041, the 15-year minimum threshold is reached in 2026 and rezoning work should begin around 2021 to allow for approval and design lead times (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.16-17). The mechanism is a rolling supply test, not a final-year capacity test.

The Panel also recommended including Precincts 8 and 9 within the township boundary. Council had treated those areas as future investigation land, partly because it considered Precincts 5 and 6 sufficient to 2041, but the Panel found there were no insurmountable statutory, environmental, character or infrastructure constraints and that the planning scheme amendment process could still manage out-of-sequence rezoning (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.20-23). That change converts Precincts 8 and 9 from peripheral uncertainty into long-term township land, while preserving the need for future rezoning evidence before development occurs (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, p.23).

Density, Character and Statutory Controls

The strategy does not chase a single density across Ballan. It uses three broad settlement types: Minimal Residential Growth, Natural Residential Growth and Greenfield Residential Growth (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.34). For greenfield land zoned General Residential Zone, the strategy states an indicative density target of 10-15 dwellings per net developable hectare, with reductions or increases where constraints, landscape, vegetation, topography or housing diversity justify a different result (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.10). This is materially lower than many metropolitan growth-area benchmarks, reflecting the document’s intention to absorb growth without replacing Ballan’s larger-lot, wide-street settlement character (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.30-31).

Existing areas are managed through zone schedules rather than precinct-scale redevelopment plans. The strategy proposed General Residential Zone for parts of Precinct A and B, Neighbourhood Residential Zone with a 1,400 square metre minimum for Precinct D and part of Precinct C, Neighbourhood Residential Zone with an 800 square metre minimum for Precincts E and G and parts of A and C, Low Density Residential Zone with a 4,000 square metre minimum for Precinct F and part of C, and Farming Zone for Precinct H (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.33-35). The planning logic is that the areas north of the Werribee River have poorer access to the activity centre, limited river crossings, rural-standard road elements, larger lots, generous setbacks and landscape character that would be eroded by unconstrained infill (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.27-29).

The Panel broadly accepted the use of the Neighbourhood Residential Zone and the strategy of limiting density north of the river, but it adjusted site-specific outcomes where recent development had already changed character (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.29, 40-41). For example, it supported the 1,400 square metre NRZ6 minimum for existing low-density areas, supported the 800 square metre NRZ7 approach in developed fringe areas, but recommended moving 12 Flack Street to NRZ7 and extending GRZ4 west to Crook Court because parts of Precinct G had already developed in a more conventional residential pattern (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.37-41). The effect is a more evidence-based character control: lower-density controls remain where they still match observed conditions, but they are not imposed where the existing subdivision pattern has already shifted.

The Panel was less convinced by fixed rural-transition and gateway lot sizes. The strategy used 4,000 square metre and 10,000 square metre lots in several interface locations, including Precincts 4 and 5, to soften the edge between urban land, the Western Freeway, Geelong-Ballan Road and rural land (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.1-6). The Panel found that the document did not adequately prove why those exact lot sizes would create the intended landscape outcome and noted that large lots do not automatically produce a landscaped gateway if the built form, setbacks, planting and noise treatments are not controlled (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.30-31). It therefore recommended replacing specific 10,000 square metre Rural Living notations in Precincts 4 and 5 with the broader notation Proposed Lower Densities, leaving detailed lot-size design to future precinct planning (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, p.31).

Werribee River, Open Space and Drainage

The Werribee River is both the town’s main environmental constraint and its main public-realm opportunity. The strategy identifies the river as a waterway that divides residential areas north and south, floods at times, supports native flora and fauna, and already carries public open space, parks and the swimming pool (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.10-13). The framework then converts that constraint into a structural open-space loop, with linear reserves, shared paths, passive open-space nodes and connections between growth precincts, the town centre, the station and recreation destinations (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.15-19).

The Panel’s treatment of the river is stronger than a normal open-space contribution discussion. It recorded Melbourne Water evidence that the Werribee River channel and floodplain in Ballan are in good geomorphic condition and support native fauna and flora, including listed species observations and aquatic species records (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, p.26). It accepted that the precise boundary between residential land and open space in Precincts 1, 2 and 5 should be settled at rezoning stage, but concluded that undeveloped river-valley land inside the township boundary should move toward open space or conservation rather than farming (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.26-27). That finding changes the river from leftover encumbered land into a planned civic and ecological spine.

Precinct 2 shows the distributional issue. Submitters owning the land argued that 65 percent, or 12.4 hectares, was shown as open space and only 35 percent, or 6.6 hectares, as developable land, with some of the open-space land subject to inundation (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, p.26). The unresolved mechanism is whether land shown for river protection is acquired, credited, offset against public open-space obligations, or left as constrained private land until rezoning. The available corpus does not include a development contributions plan or acquisition framework, so the financial and delivery pathway for this open-space network cannot be quantified from the supplied sources.

Drainage is similarly strategic but under-costed in the available documents. The strategy notes that Ballan’s historic drainage response has been localised and ad hoc, creating small stormwater assets that Council must own and maintain (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.27-28). Melbourne Water Development Services Schemes had recently been prepared for Ballan to coordinate drainage infrastructure for future urban development, manage urban runoff impacts and provide water-quality treatment, but those schemes do not solve pre-existing flooding (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.28). The practical implication is that growth areas need to be sequenced with regional drainage infrastructure, not just subdivision-scale basins, but the corpus does not provide basin sizes, scheme levies, land take or trigger dates.

Movement, Services and Community Infrastructure

Ballan’s transport advantage is regional rather than local. The town has Western Freeway access and a railway station on the Melbourne-Ararat line, and the strategy identifies increasing station patronage of approximately 7,700 monthly users in 2015/16, about 700 more than in 2014 (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.13). The local network is weaker: there are only two river crossings to connect the northern residential areas to the town centre, many local streets have limited or no footpaths, and south-of-rail growth would require better rail crossing capacity and pedestrian safety (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.11-12).

This creates a clear sequencing dependency for Precinct 6. Council’s adoption resolution allowed earlier southern growth only if landowners cooperated on a masterplan, Transport for Victoria concerns about rail crossing infrastructure costs were addressed, the extent and cost of rail crossing works were analysed, a financing plan was prepared, and supply-demand analysis showed the project was needed (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.57). Central Highlands Water also told the Panel that bringing forward Precinct 6 would not be supported and may require substantial water and sewerage investment by future landowners (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, p.18). The mechanism is therefore multi-agency: proximity to the station improves planning logic, but development cannot proceed simply because the land is well located.

Community infrastructure is less of a hard blocker in the strategy than transport, drainage and servicing. The document states that Ballan is generally well serviced for its scale, with health, education, Council, CFA, community and recreation facilities clustered around the town core, but many facilities are old, single-purpose or not fit for contemporary integrated service delivery (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.19-22). It says a secondary school would be desirable but that Department of Education discussions indicated the forecast population did not warrant one, meaning secondary education demand would continue to be met by Ballarat or Bacchus Marsh unless growth rates or regional roles changed (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.20).

The strongest quantified local employment issue is the town centre and industrial estate. The Ballan Town Centre is anchored by an IGA of about 950 square metres and the strategy identifies potential for Ballan to accommodate 8,000-9,000 square metres of retail floor space by 2041, with about 12,000 square metres of vacant town-centre land potentially able to accommodate that floor space (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.22-23). The Ballan Industrial Precinct covers 19.5 hectares, supports about 106 full-time-equivalent jobs and had a 17 percent vacancy rate in the Industrial Strategy, although the strategy notes vacancy may have been higher on inspection (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.23-24). The Panel nevertheless recommended rezoning 164 Kerrins Lane to Industrial 1 Zone because it considered the land a logical extension of the industrial area and because waiting for a later rezoning could prevent timely responses to business demand (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.50-52).

Current Status

Ballan Strategic Directions was adopted by Moorabool Shire Council on 1 November 2017 and updated on 14 June 2018 (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.1). Amendment C88 was authorised on 20 July 2018, exhibited from 30 August to 11 October 2018, received 42 submissions including three late submissions, and had a Panel hearing on 28-30 May 2019 (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.5-6). The Panel report dated 4 July 2019 recommended adoption subject to changes, including treating the strategy as a background document, including Precincts 8 and 9 in the township boundary, modifying the Framework Plan, changing several residential zone outcomes, and rezoning 164 Kerrins Lane to Industrial 1 Zone (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.7-9).

The supplied corpus does not include the final adopted amendment documentation, approval notice, gazettal, current planning scheme extract or any later review of implementation. For that reason, this page treats the strategy as adopted and Panel-reviewed, but does not verify whether every Panel recommendation was ultimately approved or gazetted.

Dependencies

  • Blocks: Out-of-sequence subdivision of greenfield land where precinct rezoning, whole-of-precinct planning, servicing evidence, transport evidence or contribution mechanisms have not been prepared (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.33-36).
  • Blocked by: Future precinct amendments, Development Plan Overlay or Section 173 mechanisms, water and sewer servicing confirmation, Melbourne Water drainage requirements, rail crossing resolution for southern growth, and gas pipeline buffer requirements near Gillespies Lane (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.7-9, 27-31).
  • Informed by: Ballan Structure Plan material, Retail Strategy 2041, Hike and Bike Strategy, Moorabool Industrial Strategy, Economic Development Strategy, West Moorabool Heritage Study and community consultation (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, p.24).
  • Implements: Moorabool 2041, the Ballan component of Clause 21.08 planning, regional growth policy identifying Ballan for medium growth, and local settlement policy for Bacchus Marsh and Ballan as the municipality’s main residential growth locations (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.12, 20-21).
  • Conflicts with: Fixed gateway and rural-transition lot-size controls where the Panel found insufficient evidence for exact lot sizes, and with any attempt to give the background strategy statutory weight without incorporation (Source: moorabool-c88-panel-report.pdf, pp.14-15, 30-31).

Ballan’s growth framework depends on state and regional agencies rather than Moorabool Shire alone. Melbourne Water controls waterway, regional drainage and floodplain management; Central Highlands Water controls sewer, recycled water and potable water; Powercor controls electricity; SP AusNet controls gas; and Telstra controls telecommunications (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, pp.28-29). Transport for Victoria is a direct dependency for southern growth because any earlier Precinct 6 development requires analysis and financing of rail crossing infrastructure (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-61-120.pdf, p.57). Ballan also functions within a commuter geography linking Melbourne, Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh and Geelong, which is why regional rail, freeway access and higher-order education and retail services outside Moorabool remain part of the settlement model (Source: 180614_ballan-strategic-directions_final_updated-1-60.pdf, pp.7-9).

Gaps in This Analysis

The source set is unusually repetitive: the corpus contains the same Ballan Strategic Directions material as differently named split files, including two 60-page split versions and three Mesh split files, plus the C88 Panel report. The duplicate files help confirm content but do not add independent technical evidence.

The main analytical gaps are material. There is no final gazettal or approval document for Amendment C88, so the current statutory implementation cannot be fully verified from the supplied documents. There is no Development Contributions Plan, Infrastructure Contributions Plan, Section 173 template or cost schedule, so road, drainage, open-space and community infrastructure liabilities cannot be quantified. There is no full Melbourne Water Development Services Scheme, Central Highlands Water servicing strategy, Transport for Victoria rail crossing assessment, traffic model, acoustic report, cultural heritage assessment, biodiversity assessment or detailed Precinct 5 Overall Development Plan in the supplied corpus. These gaps limit the ability to calculate net developable area, open-space land take, lot yield by precinct, servicing trigger dates, public acquisition exposure, or per-lot infrastructure cost.

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