title: Moorabool Retail Strategy council: moorabool state: vic category: strategy classification: MAJOR status: unknown last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-2016.pdf
- moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf
- moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf
- retail-strategy-background-report-for-web.pdf
- retail-strategy-for-web.pdf
Moorabool Retail Strategy
The Moorabool Retail Strategy is a major activity-centre and retail land-use framework because it allocates future retail demand across Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Darley, Maddingley, Underbank, Parwan Station, Merrimu and smaller settlements rather than treating retail growth as isolated permit demand (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.7). Its practical effect is to protect Bacchus Marsh as the Shire’s major activity centre while using neighbourhood centres, floorspace caps and PSP input to distribute daily services closer to growth-area residents (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.17-21).
Background
The 2024 strategy replaces an earlier 2016 retail strategy prepared for the Moorabool 2041 planning program, which forecast Moorabool’s population increasing from about 31,200 in 2014 to about 51,700 by 2041 and identified Bacchus Marsh and Ballan as the principal growth and service centres (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-2016.pdf, pp.25-29). The newer evidence base is more growth-area specific: it uses 2021 catchment populations, 2041 and 2061 forecasts, current retail floorspace surveys and assumptions about online retailing to determine how much additional floorspace should be planned in each centre (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.43-56).
The 2024 material is provided in both repository and web versions, with the same strategy title, date, author team and page structure appearing in moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf and retail-strategy-for-web.pdf, and the same background report title, date, author team and page structure appearing in moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf and retail-strategy-background-report-for-web.pdf (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.1-3; Source: retail-strategy-for-web.pdf, pp.1-3; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.1-3; Source: retail-strategy-background-report-for-web.pdf, pp.1-3). The page therefore relies mainly on the 2024 strategy and background report for analysis, while recognising the duplicate web files as source records from the manifest (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf; Source: retail-strategy-for-web.pdf; Source: retail-strategy-background-report-for-web.pdf).
Analysis
Retail Hierarchy And Statutory Mechanism
The strategy uses a hierarchy model in which larger, fewer centres provide higher-order goods, employment and civic functions, while smaller centres provide daily convenience services closer to residents (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.17-19). Bacchus Marsh is the only major activity centre identified inside Moorabool, with a typical served population of 35,000 to 100,000 and expected retail floorspace above 25,000 sqm (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.7). Ballan, Darley Plaza and Maddingley Village are existing neighbourhood or local town centres, while Underbank, Parwan Station, Merrimu 1, Merrimu 2, Merrimu 3, South Ballan and Wallace are identified as possible future neighbourhood centres by 2060 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.7). Existing local or village centres include Blackwood, Bungaree, Albert Street in Darley, Elaine, Gordon, Grant Street in Maddingley and Mount Egerton, with Halletts Way and Hopetoun Park North identified as possible future local centres (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.7).
The statutory mechanism is not simply encouragement; the strategy proposes a planning scheme amendment to update Clause 11.03-1L Activity Centres, include a retail hierarchy map, prepare a local retail policy under Clause 17 Economic Development, guide commercial rezoning requests, guide out-of-centre retail, remove certain Bacchus Marsh shop floorspace caps and embed growth-area activity-centre principles into relevant controls (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.30-35). The planning effect would be to make the hierarchy an assessment framework for permits and rezonings, so proposals outside identified centres would need to justify catchment need, supply-demand effects, economic impacts on existing centres and net sustainability outcomes (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.10).
Population Growth Drives A Larger But More Distributed Network
The background report forecasts Moorabool’s population increasing from 37,915 in 2021 to 65,221 in 2041 and 88,241 in 2061 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.43). The Bacchus Marsh major activity centre catchment is forecast to grow from 30,085 people in 2021 to 55,425 in 2041 and 76,421 in 2061, which is large enough for a strong major activity centre but not a regional centre (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.43-44). The Darley neighbourhood catchment is forecast to grow from 11,844 people in 2021 to 21,182 in 2041 and 32,291 in 2061, largely because the Merrimu precinct sits in that service geography (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.43-44, 57). The Ballan neighbourhood catchment is forecast to grow from 8,263 people in 2021 to 12,957 in 2041 and 17,635 in 2061, which is above the normal size of a single neighbourhood catchment and creates a later sequencing question for South Ballan (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.43-44; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.15).
Growth-area assumptions are central to the retail network. The background report records full-development population estimates of 1,800 people at Hopetoun Park North, 20,160 at Merrimu, 10,032 at Parwan Station and 32,742 across those growth areas, while noting VPA indications that Parwan Station could reach up to 13,000 people (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.10). The strategy converts those growth assumptions into centre requirements: Merrimu is expected to need three centres, Parwan Station one or two, Hopetoun Park North one local centre, Underbank one small neighbourhood centre and Ballan two centres including the existing town centre and a possible small neighbourhood centre (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.19).
Existing Floorspace Is Concentrated In Bacchus Marsh
The June 2022 survey found 38,729 sqm of retail floorspace in Moorabool activity centres before Maddingley Village and the Mount Egerton general store lifted total Shire floorspace to about 40,700 sqm (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.31). Bacchus Marsh Town Centre contained 27,559 sqm, or 71 percent of the surveyed Shire total, while the Bacchus Marsh district contained 31,117 sqm, or 80 percent (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.31). Ballan Town Centre contained 5,060 sqm, or 13 percent of the surveyed Shire total (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.31). Darley Plaza contained only 1,746 sqm at the 2022 survey date, which explains why Darley residents rely on Bacchus Marsh for a level of convenience provision that the model would otherwise allocate closer to Darley (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.31, 57).
The mix of growth also matters. Bacchus Marsh Town Centre increased from 21,140 sqm in 2008 to 27,559 sqm in 2022, but non-food floorspace grew by only 209 sqm over that fourteen-year period, while food, groceries and liquor increased by 3,514 sqm and food catering increased by 2,461 sqm (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.32). The mechanism is that day-to-day and hospitality demand has absorbed most local growth, while comparison goods have remained weak in the face of regional competition and internet retailing (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.32, 45-46).
Demand Model And Shortfalls
The demand model estimates total retail floorspace supported by Moorabool residents at 82,400 sqm in 2021, 126,000 sqm in 2041 and 170,500 sqm in 2061 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.55). The model assumes real spending per person stays constant, real sales per square metre stay constant and internet retail sales stabilise at about 15 percent of total retail demand, so the floorspace-per-person requirement falls from 2.17 sqm in 2021 to 1.93 sqm in 2041 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.55). This is a conservative demand mechanism compared with older approaches because population growth drives most additional floorspace, while online fulfilment and warehouse-based distribution reduce the amount of shopfront floorspace required per resident (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.45-46, 55).
After accounting for identified proposals, the strategy still identifies a 17,400 sqm shortfall in non-bulky retail floorspace by 2041 and a 39,400 sqm shortfall by 2061 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.59). The 2041 shortfall is concentrated in Bacchus Marsh with 8,100 sqm, Darley with 6,700 sqm, Ballan with 1,400 sqm, other local centres with 900 sqm and Maddingley with 300 sqm (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.59). By 2061, the total shortfall is concentrated in Bacchus Marsh with 20,900 sqm, Darley with 12,400 sqm and Ballan with 3,900 sqm (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.59).
The notional allocation gives Bacchus Marsh Town Centre an increase of 10,800 sqm by 2041 and a further 12,800 sqm by 2061, taking it from 28,700 sqm in 2021 to 52,300 sqm in 2061 (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.60). Merrimu is allocated three future neighbourhood centres totalling 6,700 sqm by 2041 and 12,400 sqm by 2061, but the report states those allocations are notional because detailed Merrimu catchments are not yet known (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.60). Parwan Station is allocated 2,400 sqm by 2041 and 5,600 sqm by 2061, matching earlier Parwan Station retail and economic assessment assumptions for a centre growing from a small neighbourhood centre to a larger neighbourhood centre (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.52, 60).
Bacchus Marsh: Land, Access And Centre Primacy
Bacchus Marsh Town Centre is expected to remain the major activity centre and accommodate higher-order retail, offices, community services, entertainment, arts, culture and accommodation (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.12-13). The strategy links the centre’s future role to the Bacchus Marsh Town Centre Structure Plan, which is intended to guide future land use and development (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.12). The physical land test is tight: the background report estimates 10,800 sqm of retail growth and 10,800 sqm of non-retail growth to 2041, producing a notional total floorspace increase of 21,600 sqm and a land requirement of about 4.9 hectares (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.62). Identified supply is about 5.0 hectares, comprising the Village Shopping Centre expansion area, 16 Graham Street, the council and bowls club site near the library and 3 Graham Street, leaving only about 0.1 hectares of notional surplus against the 2041 requirement (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.62).
This near-balance is fragile because the calculations do not account for higher-density housing in the town centre, which may not consume ground-floor retail sites but will increase car-parking pressure (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.63). The strategy therefore proposes efficiency measures: using vacant buildings, redeveloping under-used sites, reducing individual parking footprints through collective parking, removing caps on former Business 2 land and potentially expanding the Commercial 1 Zone (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.12-13). Grant Street truck traffic, intersection performance, pedestrian amenity, cycling access and the planned Eastern Link Road are not side issues; they determine whether Bacchus Marsh can intensify without turning additional floorspace into additional local congestion (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.12).
Growth-Area Centres And Floorspace Caps
The strategy treats growth-area centres as infrastructure for daily life rather than discretionary commercial additions. It expects the great majority of new residents to be within walking distance of a neighbourhood centre anchored by comprehensive food and grocery provision, with primary health care, childcare, cultural, community and commercial services also included (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.17-19). A mid-sized supermarket of 1,500 to 2,500 sqm is said to need about 5,000 to 8,000 residents, while a large supermarket above 3,000 sqm generally needs about 9,000 residents or more (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.17). The strategy links those thresholds to density: about 25 to 30 dwellings per hectare are required to place 9,000 people within 800 metres of a centre, and about 20 to 25 dwellings per hectare are required to place 7,000 people within an 800 metre catchment (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.18).
Floorspace caps are the key staging control. The strategy recommends caps on shop floorspace in neighbourhood activity centres so early centres do not grow so large that later centres become unviable and later residents lose walkable access to daily services (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.20). The recommended cap is 0.61 sqm of shop floorspace per person for neighbourhood centres and 0.50 sqm per person for small neighbourhood centres, rounded to the nearest 100 sqm and including a 10 percent flexibility margin (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.20). Indicative caps include 2,900 sqm of shop floorspace for Ballan South, 2,200 sqm for Underbank and 6,100 sqm for an example 10,000-person PSP centre (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.21). The strategy deliberately does not recommend caps for Bacchus Marsh Town Centre because its role is to serve the wider Shire, and it does not recommend caps on non-retail floorspace because non-retail activity broadens local employment and service functions (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.20).
Ballan, Bulky Goods And Cross-Boundary Leakage
Ballan Town Centre has 5,060 sqm of retail floorspace and a further 12,300 sqm in health, community services, professional offices, automotive repairs and hospitality (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.15). The strategy forecasts at least 1,400 sqm of additional Ballan retail demand by 2041, with a larger supermarket becoming viable as population grows and helping reduce spending leakage from the catchment (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.15). The sequencing risk is that a South Ballan centre could be justified by later residential growth but should not undermine the town-centre role before Ballan’s core has absorbed its planned service growth (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.15).
Moorabool currently has no bulky goods precinct, and the strategy identifies a current bulky-goods shortfall of about 12,000 sqm rising to about 24,000 sqm depending on future development (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.25). The preferred planning response is a 10 to 12 hectare restricted-retail precinct in Bacchus Marsh south of the railway line, with access to Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Road and the planned Eastern Link Road (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.26). A 3.7 hectare site at Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Road and Fisken Street is identified as suitable in the short to medium term because it sits within the Maddingley Waste Resource and Recovery Centre buffer where residential development is not supported (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.25-26). In the longer term, the western edge of the Parwan Station PSP is identified as a possible bulky-goods location because it has main-road access and includes land affected by the Maddingley Waste Resource and Recovery Centre buffer (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, p.26).
Current Status
The source documents show the 2024 strategy and background report as final documents dated 18 June 2024, but the provided corpus does not include a council adoption report, gazettal notice or completed planning scheme amendment implementing the recommendations (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.1-2; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.1-2). The correct status from the available documents is therefore unknown for statutory implementation, even though the strategy itself is finalised as a technical and policy document (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.30-35).
Dependencies
- Blocks: The strategy does not itself block development, but its proposed amendment would create assessment expectations for out-of-centre retail proposals, commercial rezonings, growth-area activity-centre design and Bacchus Marsh floorspace caps (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.10, 30-35).
- Blocked by: Full statutory effect depends on a planning scheme amendment updating Clause 11.03-1L, adding a hierarchy map, preparing a Clause 17 local retail policy and embedding centre design principles into PSP or growth-area controls (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.30-35).
- Informed by: The strategy is informed by the 2024 background report, the 2016 retail strategy, growth-area estimates from Urban Enterprise, Council, HillPDA and VPA references, retail surveys, SpendMapp data, ABS data and previous centre-specific assessments listed in the references (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.10, 31-35, 65-66; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-2016.pdf).
- Implements: The strategy implements the Municipal Planning Strategy direction to reinforce Bacchus Marsh and Ballan as centres for employment, shopping, tourism, industry, business and cultural services, and to facilitate a bulky-goods precinct convenient to Bacchus Marsh (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.10-11).
- Conflicts with: The strategy creates managed tension between Bacchus Marsh primacy and walkable growth-area service provision, especially in Merrimu, Parwan Station, Underbank and South Ballan where new centres must be large enough to serve residents but not so large that they weaken the intended centre hierarchy (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.17-21; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.53-54).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
Moorabool has no regional centre within the municipality, so higher-order comparison shopping and some bulky goods demand is expected to continue flowing to Ballarat and Woodgrove/Melton (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.17-19, 59). The model allocates some supported floorspace outside Moorabool, rising from 28,000 sqm in 2021 to 40,300 sqm in 2041 and 53,400 sqm in 2061, which shows that the strategy is not attempting full retail self-containment (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.57). The risk is strongest in Merrimu, where some configurations could make Woodgrove/Melton easier to reach than Bacchus Marsh for higher-order retail, increasing spending leakage from Moorabool (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.53-54).
Gaps In This Analysis
The corpus does not include the Bacchus Marsh Town Centre Structure Plan, the amendment documentation that would implement the strategy, Council adoption minutes, or the detailed PSP documents for Merrimu, Parwan Station, Underbank, Hopetoun Park North and Ballan South (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.12-13, 30-35; Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, pp.50-54). Those gaps limit analysis of exact zoning changes, final centre boundaries, infrastructure triggers, amendment timing, landowner submissions and whether the recommended floorspace caps have statutory force (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy.pdf, pp.20-21, 30-35). The Merrimu analysis is especially limited because the background report states that the precinct has no detailed population, retail supply or demand analysis at the time of writing, despite its potential to accommodate more than 20,000 residents (Source: moorabool-shire-retail-strategy-background-report.pdf, p.53).