The draft Managed Grow­th Strategy aims to guide housing grow­th. It focuses on areas near existing services and job opportunities. The strategy aims for 70 per cent of new­ urban development to occur in established areas. The remaining 30 per cent will be in identified grow­th areas.

We expect that the rural townships will continue to make up 16 per cent of dwellings in Greater Bendigo:

• Elmore
• Heathcote
• Goornong
• Axedale

The Rural Area Framework Plan in the Managed Growth Strategy identifies Elmore as a ‘District Town’. Moderate growth will likely occur.

This growth will:

• Be contained within the existing township
• Happen on land already zoned for residential purposes
• Consider environmental constraints like flooding

We will investigate this further as we prepare the Elmore Structure Plan.

The draft Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy is also open for community feedback. It identifies three categories of housing change to guide the future growth of residential areas. The Strategy identifies most of Elmore’s Township Zone land as ‘Incremental Change (2 Storeys)’.

This category could see the development of:

• Detached single houses
• Dual occupancies
• Townhouses
• Multi-dwellings

The remaining land where heritage controls apply is identified as ‘Minimal Change’.

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy also identifies four residential character types in Elmore which will guide potential development.

The Elmore Structure Plan will inform future change areas based on needs identified through:

• Structure plan research
• Consultation with the community