title: Moorabool Economic Development Strategy council: moorabool state: vic category: strategy classification: MINOR status: adopted last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf
- economic-development-strategy-summary.pdf
- moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf
Moorabool Economic Development Strategy
The Moorabool Economic Development Strategy 2023-2027 is a council economic policy document, not a statutory land-use control, but it has planning significance because it identifies housing, transport, serviced employment land, township amenity and agricultural land productivity as preconditions for local job growth and service provision (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24-25, 31-33). Its main mechanism is coordination: it converts population growth and low job containment into a program of follow-on strategies, audits and advocacy documents, including a Moorabool Shire Integrated Transport Strategy, Moorabool Housing Strategy, retail strategy, land activation infrastructure program and agricultural strategic plan (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.27, 42-47).
Background
Moorabool Shire is a peri-urban municipality west of metropolitan Melbourne, between Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat, with Bacchus Marsh and Ballan as its key urban centres (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.11-12). The 2023 strategy was prepared by Urban Enterprise with Moorabool Shire Council and was informed by independent research plus engagement with government agencies, local operators, Traditional Owner corporations, seven industry workshops, councillors, council executives and 258 survey responses during November and December 2021 (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.10). The summary report largely condenses the adopted strategy rather than adding separate technical evidence, so it is useful as a public-facing synopsis but not as an independent analytical base (Source: economic-development-strategy-summary.pdf, pp.2-9).
The 2023 strategy updates a 2015 economic strategy that had already diagnosed Moorabool as a three-part economy linked eastward to western Melbourne, westward to Ballarat, and northward to Hepburn and Macedon Ranges (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.4). The 2015 strategy framed the central problem as rapid population growth without enough local jobs, with two-thirds of working residents leaving the Shire each day and outward commuting estimated to cost the community $20 million annually in transport costs and lost local participation time (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.7). The 2023 strategy shows that this structural issue persisted: Moorabool recorded a 33% job-containment rate and 61% total commuting out, with commuting flows identified to Ballarat, Melton and Melbourne (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.19, 21).
Analysis
Growth Pressure and the Service Economy
The strategy is built around a large population-growth task: Moorabool’s population was 37,632 in 2021 and is forecast to reach 64,062 by 2041, an increase of 26,430 people at 2.7% per annum (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.16-17). Dwelling demand follows the same trajectory, rising from 15,453 dwellings in 2021 to 26,090 dwellings in 2041, an increase of 10,654 dwellings at 2.7% per annum (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.16-17). The planning implication is that economic development is inseparable from settlement planning: if Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and smaller towns cannot absorb housing, retail, health, education and transport demand, the Shire’s economic strategy has no practical delivery base (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.17, 24, 32).
The growth is spatially uneven. The strategy says 65% of residents are located in the Bacchus Marsh region and that most future growth will also occur there, with Ballan also identified as a key growth centre (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.17). That creates a two-speed planning task: Bacchus Marsh and Ballan need capacity for housing, services, transport and town-centre activity, while the Shire’s 64 localities, hamlets and towns need role clarity so small settlements are not treated as miniature versions of the main urban centres (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.11, 23, 30). The proposed Small Towns Placemaking and Activation Plan is therefore not only an amenity project; it is a settlement hierarchy tool that would define town roles, public realm needs, infrastructure requirements, service gaps and business-support functions (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.30).
The economic base is already population-led. In 2021, Moorabool had 2.8 billion in total output, 786 million in regional export value, 10,233 local jobs and $1.2 billion in resident consumption (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.19). Construction was the largest output and employment sector, accounting for 23% of output and 15% of employment, while health care and social assistance and education and training each accounted for 12% of employment (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.19). This means population growth is already feeding construction, property, retail, education and health demand, but not yet at a scale that retains enough resident workers locally (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.19-21).
Jobs, Commuting and Local Consumption
The core mechanism in the 2023 strategy is to reduce the gap between resident growth and local employment growth. Local jobs grew by 556 jobs between 2017 and 2021, equal to 2% per annum, while the strategy reports population growth over the same period at 3% per annum (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.19, 21). This mismatch is why Moorabool can experience population growth and still face local employment pressure: each new household increases demand for services, but if service land, transport, workforce and business capacity do not keep pace, the labour market remains outward-facing (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.21, 25).
The consumption leakage figure is especially important for town-centre planning. The strategy reports that 63% of resident consumption is spent outside Moorabool, including online sales, leaving only 37% locally (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.19, 21). The strategy links this leakage to proximity to larger centres and a shortage of consumer-facing businesses such as retail, hospitality and service-industrial uses (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.21). The practical planning effect is that retail floorspace, main-street amenity and local service provision are not secondary economic matters; they are the channels through which household growth can either circulate locally or leave the municipality (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.21, 23, 28-30).
The Bacchus Marsh Town Centre Improvement Program is positioned as the main place-based response for the Shire’s primary service centre (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.30). Its listed actions include streetscape improvements, public realm upgrades, public art, pedestrianisation, wayfinding and accessibility improvements (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.30). The 2015 strategy had already identified Bacchus Marsh town centre as likely to provide the largest concentration of new jobs in the municipality through retail, health services and office activity, and it raised land supply and potential council intervention in the town-centre land market as issues for further work (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31). The unresolved question is whether the 2023 program will remain a public-realm project or become linked to a firmer activity-centre land supply, access and floorspace strategy (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.30, 42-43; Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31).
Serviced Land and Infrastructure as the Delivery Constraint
The strategy repeatedly identifies serviced zoned land as the binding constraint for both housing and employment outcomes. It states that 74% of total land is not suitable for development because it comprises water catchments, State Forests, State Parks and National Parks (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.12, 25). That makes the remaining developable and serviceable land more strategically important, particularly around Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and identified employment areas (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24-25, 32-33).
The Land Activation Infrastructure Advocacy and Delivery project is the clearest bridge between economic strategy and land-use implementation. It requires an audit of relevant zoned land, identification of infrastructure gaps, prioritisation of servicing projects, estimated costs and required contributions, and annual updating through advocacy channels (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.33, 44). The infrastructure categories are broad but consequential: sewer, water, energy, community and recreation infrastructure, and transport access are all identified as enabling requirements (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24, 33). Without that audit, the strategy can name the need for serviced land but cannot quantify which parcels, precincts or townships are actually constrained (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.33, 44).
This is a continuation of a longer-running infrastructure problem. The 2015 strategy identified enabling infrastructure such as gas, water and telecommunications as industry attractors and said infrastructure shortfalls were barriers in some locations (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.21). It specifically named sewage and water infrastructure in Wallace/Bungaree, infrastructure in Parwan, recycled water feasibility for the Bacchus Marsh irrigation district, gas and telecommunications for Ballan Industrial Estate, and water infrastructure upgrades around Bacchus Marsh and district (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, pp.21, 20). The Parwan Agribusiness Precinct was singled out in 2015 as needing natural gas, freight connections to the Western Highway, appropriate planning provisions, Class A water supply and broadband (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31). The 2023 strategy broadens this into a Shire-wide land activation program, but the available documents do not show whether the named 2015 constraints were resolved, superseded or carried forward into current infrastructure programs (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.33, 44; Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31).
Transport is the other cross-cutting constraint. The 2023 strategy says Moorabool is connected to Melbourne and Ballarat by road and rail and is proximate to sea and air transport, but it also identifies variable road quality, freight limitations and limited public transport outside Bacchus Marsh and Ballan (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.24). The proposed Integrated Transport Strategy is asked to cover road safety and access, links to regional centres and export markets, V/Line access, bus networks, and active transport (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.32). This matters because the strategy’s economic logic depends on both inward service access and outward freight access: residents need local services and workers need mobility, while agriculture, manufacturing and construction supply chains need reliable routes to ports, airports and nearby metropolitan markets (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.23-24, 32, 40).
Agriculture, Rural Land and Water Security
Agriculture is treated as both a land-use protection issue and an economic productivity issue. The 2023 strategy identifies primary industries and trade as providing 27% of output, 55% of exports and 19% of local jobs, with agriculture, forestry and fishing contributing 9% of output, 23% of export value and 9% of employment in the economic snapshot (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.19-20). Later in the strategy, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector is described as generating 11% of output, 29% of regional exports and 10% of employment, indicating either a different grouping or data treatment within the document (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.39). The analytical point is consistent despite the internal variation: rural production is one of the Shire’s main export-facing sectors and cannot be assessed only through urban employment land metrics (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.20, 39).
The proposed Agricultural Strategic Plan is linked to the Rural Land Use Strategy and is intended to guide agriculture and forestry through consultation with industry, government and community stakeholders (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.40, 47). The strategy identifies value-adding directions such as food manufacturing from beef and horticultural production, timber manufacturing, processing and packing, warehousing and distribution (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.40). It also identifies water security around Bacchus Marsh as a planning dependency, citing the Bacchus Marsh Irrigation District and the proposed Western Irrigation Network as supports for fruit and vegetable production and possible transition of Balliang-area land from cropping to higher-value horticulture and food production (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.40).
The 2015 strategy was more place-specific about agribusiness land. It nominated Parwan as a core business precinct and listed hydroponics, mushroom production, bulk distribution and red meat processing as possible activities, subject to infrastructure resolution (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31). The 2023 strategy shifts from a named precinct emphasis to a Shire-wide agricultural and industry-diversification framework, but the source set does not include the Rural Land Use Strategy, a Parwan servicing plan, water authority plans or an agricultural land capability study (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.39-40; Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.31). That limits any firm conclusion about which rural areas should be protected for production, which should accommodate value-adding uses, and which are constrained by water, freight or utility availability (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24-25, 40).
Governance, Monitoring and Statutory Effect
The strategy does not itself rezone land, apply overlays, fund infrastructure or approve development (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.41-47). Its planning effect is indirect: it instructs Council to prepare further studies, advocate for infrastructure, monitor indicators and align economic objectives with land-use and service planning (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.41-47). The action plan assigns Council as the lead for all listed actions, with partners named for some workforce, business and agriculture actions, including local businesses, employment providers, business associations, industry representatives, State Government and Farming Moorabool (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.42-47).
The strategy’s monitoring framework is practical but output-oriented. It proposes annual monitoring of local businesses, local jobs, job containment, local consumption, commercial and industrial vacancy rates, investment enquiries, planning and building permits, public-sector infrastructure funding, business participation, training activity, planning permit decision times, agricultural output, agricultural export value and agricultural job creation (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.43-47). These indicators can show movement in the economy, but they do not by themselves reveal whether a transport upgrade, sewer project, housing strategy or serviced-land program caused the change (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.43-47). A stronger implementation framework would connect each indicator to a baseline, target, responsible program and reporting cycle, but those details are not present in the available strategy documents (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.41-47).
Current Status
The current adopted strategy covers the 2023-2027 period and was published in July 2023 (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.1). The available documents do not include council minutes, implementation reports, budget allocations or progress updates after adoption, so the current delivery status of individual actions such as the Integrated Transport Strategy, Housing Strategy, Retail Strategy, Land Activation Infrastructure Advocacy and Delivery project, and Agricultural Strategic Plan cannot be confirmed from this source set (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.42-47). For wiki purposes, the strategy should be treated as adopted policy with unverified implementation progress (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.41-47).
Dependencies
- Blocks: The strategy does not legally block development, but incomplete follow-on work can leave Council without quantified evidence for serviced employment land, housing capacity, transport priorities, retail floorspace gaps and agricultural land planning (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.32-33, 42-47).
- Blocked by: Delivery is blocked or slowed by missing infrastructure audits, unconfirmed transport priorities, unconfirmed housing capacity work, unquantified utility gaps and the absence of published implementation reporting in the available corpus (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24-25, 32-33, 41-47).
- Informed by: The 2023 strategy was informed by research, strategic policy review and stakeholder engagement, including 258 survey responses and seven industry workshops (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.10).
- Implements: The strategy aligns with Plan Melbourne 2050, the Central Highlands Regional Growth Plan, the Council Plan 2021-2025, the 2030 Community Vision and local planning for Ballan and Bacchus Marsh (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.13).
- Conflicts with: The main internal tension is between rapid urban growth and rural land productivity, because the strategy seeks both more housing and service capacity in growth towns and stronger protection and productivity of agricultural land (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.17, 24-25, 39-40).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
Moorabool’s economy is structurally linked to Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong through labour markets, commuter flows, freight access and service access (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.11, 19, 23-24). The 2015 strategy described three functional economies within the Shire, with the east linked to western Melbourne, the west linked to Ballarat, and the north linked to Hepburn and Macedon Ranges (Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, p.4). The 2023 strategy identifies competition for business and infrastructure attention with Melton, Wyndham and Ballarat, while also relying on access to metropolitan and regional labour, ports, airports, roads and rail (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.11, 23-24). Water and irrigation dependencies also extend beyond municipal economic policy because the Bacchus Marsh Irrigation District and Western Irrigation Network are identified as supports for agricultural production and possible land-use transition around Bacchus Marsh and Balliang (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, p.40).
Gaps in This Analysis
The source set is thin for implementation and statutory effect. It does not include the Moorabool Housing Strategy, Moorabool Shire Integrated Transport Strategy, Moorabool Retail Strategy, Rural Land Use Strategy, Small Towns and Settlement Strategy, Visitor Economy Strategy, land activation audit, infrastructure advocacy document, water authority servicing plans, council budget papers or post-2023 progress reports (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.9, 13, 32-33, 40, 42-47). These gaps mean this page can identify the strategy’s intended mechanisms, but it cannot verify which actions have been funded, completed, delayed or translated into planning scheme changes (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.41-47). The most important corpus gaps to record in _gaps are the implementation status of the 2023-2027 action plan, the land activation infrastructure audit, the transport strategy, the housing strategy, and primary infrastructure servicing evidence for Parwan, Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Wallace/Bungaree and the irrigation districts (Source: economic-development-strategy-2023-2027.pdf, pp.24-25, 32-33, 40, 44; Source: moorabool-economic-development-strategy-2015.pdf, pp.21, 31).