title: Moorabool Industrial Areas Strategy council: moorabool state: vic category: strategy classification: MAJOR status: unknown last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy-sgs-economics-and-planning-june-2015.pdf
- moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf
Moorabool Industrial Areas Strategy
The Moorabool Industrial Areas Strategy is a long-range employment-land strategy that reframes the Shire’s industrial problem as a mismatch between quantity and usability: the municipality has more zoned industrial land than forecast demand requires, but much of it is either too close to sensitive uses, too weakly connected to freight routes, or insufficiently serviced for heavier industrial functions (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.5, 76). Its central planning mechanism is to reserve Ballan and Maddingley for lower-impact, population-serving industrial and service uses while investigating Parwan as the longer-term location for a larger manufacturing, logistics and agribusiness cluster with stronger separation distances (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.75, 81, 84-86).
Background
SGS Economics and Planning prepared the strategy for Moorabool Shire in June 2015 to review and forecast industrial land supply and demand, audit industrial precincts, survey businesses and landowners, and set strategic directions to 2051 (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.5, 7, 9). The strategy updates the 2001 Moorabool Industrial Areas Strategy and is framed by state, regional and local policy that recognises Bacchus Marsh as a regional centre, supports local employment growth, and requires industrial land to be planned with appropriate buffers, infrastructure and access (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.10-14).
The document treats Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Maddingley and Parwan differently because they solve different planning problems (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.47-49). Bacchus Marsh and Maddingley sit near the Shire’s major population growth and workforce catchment, but their industrial precincts are also exposed to residential encroachment, traffic and amenity conflicts (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.56-62, 82). Parwan has weaker services and poorer immediate access, but it has the separation distances and land scale that cannot easily be created inside established townships (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.71-76, 86).
Analysis
Land Supply Is Numerically Adequate But Functionally Constrained
The headline supply-demand balance is not the binding issue: the strategy identifies 346.0 hectares of net industrial-zoned land supply against total required industrial land of 141.2 hectares in 2011, 153.2 hectares in 2021, 164.1 hectares in 2031, 179.1 hectares in 2041 and 193.1 hectares in 2051 after applying a 20 per cent vacancy allowance (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.5, 76). On those figures, the Shire would still have about 152.9 hectares more industrial-zoned land than modelled 2051 requirements, but the strategy warns that the land cannot be treated as automatically available because servicing gaps and the conversion of agricultural land to industrial use may reduce effective supply (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.76).
The land audit explains why the surplus is not a simple reserve of ready industrial capacity (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.22-24). Industrial 1 and Industrial 2 land totals 360.3 hectares gross and 346.0 hectares net, supports 112,148 square metres of floorspace, and contains 644 jobs, while Special Use Zone land totals 2,285.9 hectares gross and 2,261.6 hectares net, supports 26,910 square metres of floorspace, and contains 260 jobs (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.22). Within the industrial zones, agriculture uses occupy 175.5 hectares, manufacturing occupies 64.1 hectares, vacant land occupies 51.2 hectares, transport/postal/warehousing occupies 3.2 hectares, and other services occupy 8.3 hectares (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.24). The strategy therefore treats 14.8 per cent of industrial-zoned land as short-term vacant land and 65.5 per cent as vacant plus agricultural land, but it also notes that frictional vacancy in regional industrial markets is usually about 20 per cent, leaving an implied effective long-term surplus closer to 45.5 per cent after allowing for normal churn (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.23-24).
The practical implication is that Moorabool’s industrial land problem is not a shortage of zoning but a shortage of land with the right combination of zoning, buffers, access and services (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.75-77). This matters for statutory planning because rezoning more land without infrastructure and separation controls would not solve the constraint identified by the strategy (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.76, 86). It also matters for employment land sequencing because premature transition of existing Maddingley or Ballan land away from industrial use could displace existing businesses before Parwan or another alternative precinct is serviced (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.77).
Demand Growth Is Driven More By Service Industry Than Manufacturing
The forecast shows different demand profiles for service industry, manufacturing and freight/logistics (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.38-39). Service industry demand is forecast to rise from 42.0 hectares in 2011 to 79.3 hectares in 2051, which is a 37.3 hectare increase and the largest industrial-zoned land increase among the three main industrial categories (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.38-39). Manufacturing demand is forecast to move only from 72.5 hectares in 2011 to 76.2 hectares in 2051, while freight and logistics demand is forecast to rise from 3.2 hectares to 5.5 hectares over the same period (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.38-39).
This creates a two-speed land-use strategy (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.77-80). In the short and medium term, population-serving service industry can be accommodated in Ballan and Maddingley because those precincts are close to residents and do not require the same mandatory separation distances as manufacturing (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.80). In the longer term, manufacturing and logistics need a different spatial answer because the precincts closest to customers and labour are also the precincts most exposed to buffer and traffic conflicts (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.77-80).
Business survey evidence supports that distinction (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.25-29). The strategy records 62 business survey responses from 193 surveyed businesses, a 32 per cent business response rate, and 26 landowner responses from 193 surveyed owners, a 13 per cent landowner response rate (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.25). Five activity groups account for 76 per cent of employment in industrial and special use zoned land: manufacturing, mining, transport/postal/warehousing, agriculture and other services (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.25). Large site and building size is the most commonly identified advantage of Moorabool industrial locations, while distance, remoteness, road infrastructure, traffic, postal and waste services, signage and visibility are identified as disadvantages (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.26-27).
The survey also shows that industrial precincts were not stagnant at the time of the study: 25 of 62 surveyed businesses, or 40 per cent, had located in Moorabool’s industrial lands in the previous five years and collectively employed 148 people (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.28). About 84 per cent of surveyed businesses intended to stay in their current location, about 60 per cent expected growth, 35 per cent expected no significant change, and 4 per cent expected decline (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.28). This means the strategy is not simply about finding new land; it is also about managing existing business continuity while changing the long-term role of constrained precincts (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.77, 84-86).
Buffers Are The Hard Constraint
The strategy’s main planning distinction is between constraints that can be built, such as roads and utilities, and constraints that cannot be easily retrofitted, such as separation from sensitive uses (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.10-11, 75-77). It applies EPA separation guidance by noting that all manufacturing activities require at least 100 metres from sensitive uses, 95 per cent of industrial activity requires less than 1,000 metres, 99.5 per cent of manufacturing is permissible at 2,000 metres, and all manufacturing becomes permissible at 5,000 metres (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.11). It also notes that only paper production involving sulphur-based materials requires more than 2,000 metres, with a 5,000 metre separation distance, and therefore questions whether planning for that single category should drive the whole industrial land strategy unless there is evidence of that use seeking to locate in Moorabool (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.11).
This buffer logic explains why Maddingley 1 and Maddingley 2 fail the manufacturing suitability test despite being the best serviced industrial precincts (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.40-41, 56-62, 75). Maddingley 1 contains 240 jobs, has a reported vacancy rate of only 3 per cent, and is close to the Bacchus Marsh residential core, but five lots on its western end contained dwellings and most of the precinct fails the manufacturing buffer test (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.56-57). Maddingley 2 contains about 204 jobs, has service industry and manufacturing activity, and is fully serviced, but the majority of the precinct also fails the manufacturing buffer test, with only some south-western areas 100 to 300 metres from sensitive uses potentially able to accommodate selected low-impact manufacturing (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.61-62).
Ballan and Maddingley 4 sit in a middle category rather than a clear solution (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.51-54, 66-69, 75). Ballan contains about 106 jobs, has a 17 per cent vacancy rate, and scores 72 per cent for manufacturing suitability, 73 per cent for transport and warehousing, and 79 per cent for local service industry, but dwellings within one kilometre reduce its separation-buffer score (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.51-54, 75). Maddingley 4 contains 91 jobs, has large lots and some freeway access, includes the JBD Industrial Park with nine businesses, and scores 72 per cent for manufacturing, 69 per cent for transport and warehousing, and 79 per cent for local service industry, but almost half the precinct is still within one kilometre of sensitive uses and road access for B-doubles on Grant Street is identified as a weakness (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.66-69, 75).
Parwan scores lower overall for manufacturing than Ballan on the strategy’s table, at 69 per cent, because its location and access score is weak, but it has the strongest separation-buffer profile and a 93 per cent land-requirement score for manufacturing (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.72, 75). That is the key mechanism: Parwan is not the best current industrial estate; it is the best candidate for a future industrial cluster if infrastructure can be staged into the right location (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.75-77, 84-86).
Infrastructure Turns Parwan From Concept Into Sequenced Planning Work
The infrastructure audit assessed gas, water, sewerage, electricity and sealed roads across industrial and special-use precincts (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.40-41). Maddingley 1 and Maddingley 2 each receive full scores for gas, water, sewerage, electricity and sealed roads, giving each a total infrastructure score of 20, while Ballan has no gas, water or sewerage but full electricity and sealed roads, giving it a score of 8 (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.41). Maddingley 4 has partial gas, mostly water, partial sewerage, full electricity and mostly sealed roads, giving it a score of 14, while Parwan has no gas, partial water, no sewerage, mostly electricity and mostly sealed roads, giving it a score of 8 (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.41).
The Parwan footnote is important because it shows that servicing was already under review rather than being a blank unknown: Class C water was available via a treatment plant, a gas main already ran through the middle of Parwan, preliminary costing for extension of the gas main was being considered, and a full service audit was being conducted for the area (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.41). The strategy identifies natural gas, water and improved road connections as the major requirements for Parwan agribusiness and industrial activities (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.86).
Road access is the decisive infrastructure dependency for both Maddingley and Parwan (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.45-46, 77-80, 86). Proposed short-to-medium-term road works around Bacchus Marsh include east-facing freeway ramps at Halletts Way, connection of Halletts Way through Telford Park in Darley, connection of Halletts Way from Bacchus Marsh Road to Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Road/Griffith Street in Maddingley, upgrade of Woolpack Road to an arterial road managed by VicRoads, and upgrade of freeway access at the eastern end of Bacchus Marsh Road (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.45). The strategy states that Halletts Way would improve access to Maddingley 4 and Maddingley 2, while Parwan would require strong Western Freeway access and likely upgrades around the Eastern Bypass and freeway interchange (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.45-46, 77, 86).
The infrastructure consequence is staged rather than binary (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.6, 86). The strategy recommends a Parwan Infrastructure Prioritisation Strategy to compare benefits and costs across different infrastructure types and provide a rationale for introducing infrastructure over the short, medium and long term (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.6, 86). Without that sequencing work, Parwan remains a land-use direction rather than a development-ready employment precinct (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.76-77, 86).
Statutory And Precinct Consequences
The strategy recommends that Council investigate transition options for industrial precincts in Bacchus Marsh and Maddingley that are constrained by residential encroachment, including alternative zoning and land-use options, traffic and amenity issues (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.6, 84-86). For Maddingley 1, the strategy says the current role more closely resembles an Industrial 3 Zone than an Industrial 1 or Industrial 2 Zone because the precinct contains low-impact industrial and service industries, dwellings and non-industrial businesses, while the Local Planning Policy Framework identifies broader opportunities for planned residential and mixed-use urban development (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.84). It recommends investigating possible rezoning of Maddingley 1 and Maddingley 2 to Commercial 2 Zone or Industrial 3 Zone to help transition them away from core industrial uses, while noting that further investigation is required (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.86).
The strategy is cautious about timing because rezoning can change land economics before replacement industrial capacity exists (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.77, 85). It warns that if the transition away from manufacturing in existing precincts occurs before Parwan is adequately serviced and funded, businesses may leave the municipality because land scarcity, rising rents or broader permissible uses could displace existing manufacturers (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.77). The recommended transition framework for Maddingley 1 includes value capture mechanisms, land-use option testing, financial feasibility analysis, net community benefit assessment, transition-method selection, and a defined Council role (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.85).
For Parwan, the statutory consequence is not simply to confirm the existing Industrial 1 Zone (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.86). The strategy states that whether the existing Parwan industrial-zoned site remains Industrial or Farming is less important than defining a broader, larger precinct with better Western Freeway access, potentially including sites further north and upgrades to the freeway interchange and Eastern Bypass (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.86). It recommends a Parwan Employment Cluster Governance Model, a Parwan Precinct Structure Plan with zones, overlays and planning scheme policy, and a Parwan Infrastructure Prioritisation Strategy (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.6, 86).
Current Status
The available manifest contains two local copies of the June 2015 final report and does not include a later council adoption record, amendment record, Parwan Precinct Structure Plan, infrastructure prioritisation strategy or governance model (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.1, 6, 86). On the available evidence, the page status is recorded as unknown rather than adopted or implemented because the source set proves the strategy’s publication but not its later statutory implementation (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.1, 83-86).
Dependencies
- Blocks: A coherent transition of Maddingley 1 and Maddingley 2 away from heavier industrial roles is blocked until replacement industrial capacity is planned, serviced and funded at Parwan or another suitable precinct (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.77, 84-86).
- Blocked by: The Parwan direction is blocked by unresolved infrastructure staging for gas, water, road access, Western Freeway connectivity, the Eastern Bypass and related funding responsibilities (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.41, 45-46, 77, 86).
- Informed by: The strategy is informed by land audits, business surveys, landowner surveys, macroeconomic forecasts, Council GIS infrastructure data, site visits and consultation (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.5, 21-25, 40).
- Implements: The strategy supports regional and local policy directions for industrial land, employment growth, infrastructure-supported development and appropriate industrial buffers in Moorabool (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.10-13).
- Conflicts with: The strategy identifies a tension between existing Industrial 2 zoning in Ballan and Maddingley and the practical effect of nearby dwellings, township growth, traffic constraints and EPA separation expectations (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.11, 56-62, 84-86).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The strategy links Moorabool’s industrial role to Western Melbourne because manufacturing and logistics demand in Moorabool is sensitive to land supply, population growth and industrial displacement in western metropolitan municipalities (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.39, 77, 82). It specifically notes that core industrial areas in Melton and Wyndham may become constrained by buffer issues as Western Melbourne grows, making isolated but connected precincts such as Parwan more relevant to state-wide industrial land planning if infrastructure is provided (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, p.77). It also links Parwan’s competitiveness to the Western Freeway, Woolpack Road, the Eastern Bypass and the future Outer Metropolitan Ring Road, which means state transport decisions affect whether the Parwan concept becomes a practical employment precinct (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.45-46, 77, 81, 86).
Gaps in This Analysis
The source set is thin for implementation tracking because it contains two copies of the same 92-page June 2015 final report and no later council minutes, planning scheme amendment files, infrastructure business cases, servicing strategies, adoption resolution or Parwan PSP material (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.1, 6, 86). The strategy refers to the Parwan Employment Precinct Strategy prepared by CBRE in 2015 and relies on it for agribusiness activity concepts including meat processing, bulk distribution, mushroom production, poultry and hydroponics, but that CBRE report is not included in the manifest, limiting the ability to test land area, infrastructure cost, staging or agency responsibilities for those activities (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.7, 84, 86). The strategy also refers to the Bacchus Marsh Transport Study and Issues and Opportunities Study for road upgrades, but those documents are not included in the manifest, so this page cannot verify the cost, timing, delivery agency or status of Halletts Way, Woolpack Road, Eastern Bypass or freeway interchange works (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.45-46). A complete implementation assessment would require the later Parwan governance model, Parwan PSP or equivalent structure planning work, water/gas/sewer servicing audits, transport corridor decisions and any planning scheme amendments that implemented or superseded the 2015 recommendations (Source: moorabool-industrial-areas-strategy_final-report_june-2015.pdf, pp.6, 41, 45-46, 86).