Urban Growth Boundary

The identified urban area of Bendigo as outlined in the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme at Clause 2.04.

Infill development

Development in the established suburbs of Bendigo.

Greenfield development

Development on the outskirts of the urban area in Strathfieldsaye, Huntly, Maiden Gully and Marong.

Planning zone

All land is within a zone which identifies the land for a particular use. For this project the residential zones are the zones being considered.

Planning overlay

Some land is subject to a planning overlay which may identify environmental risks like:

• bushfire
• flooding
• requirements around built form like the heritage or neighbourhood character overlay

By 2056 Greater Bendigo will be home to around 87,000 more residents and an extra 38,000 dwellings. Natural increases and people moving to Greater Bendigo from surrounding areas will drive much of this growth . To put this into perspective, this is around double the amount of growth from the previous 30 years.

The City has always had a plan to accommodate residents who:

• stay to grow family here
• move here to work or for the great lifestyle

We still need to plan for this growth to ensure the Greater Bendigo remains liveable and accessible.

The City has had a policy for many years to encourage infill development. Further urban expansion has high environmental impacts and infrastructure costs.

Currently, more than half of the residential growth in the urban area of Bendigo is in the growth areas of:

• Strathfieldsaye
• Marong
• Maiden Gully
• Huntly

Enabling this continued outward expansion would have many negative consequences including:

• loss of farming land, native vegetation and biodiversity
• increased infrastructure costs due to the extra costs in servicing greenfield development
• more cars on the roads as people are further away from services

The City must start to shift this pattern of development.

We need to enable more residents to live close to existing services and commercial centres if they want to.

The policy position is a long term aspiration to provide clear direction about the importance of developing more housing in the established areas close to existing services, infrastructure and shops.

It's important to provide different types of housing because of:

• a growing number of smaller households
• an increase in housing costs

This includes townhouses, units, and in some instances apartments in well serviced locations. Each of these types of development would be subject to a planning permit.

The region had two recent flood events in December 2023 and January 2024. Many homes flooded and there was extensive road and infrastructure damage. These types of events are predicted to occur more often over the timespan of the Managed Growth Strategy.

It may be possible to manage the flooding risk in some new developments through:

• Elevated housing
• Expanded drainage basins and
• Water sensitive urban design

These measures may not be appropriate in other areas where potential flooding risk is too significant to allow for more intensive residential development.

Areas within the Managed Growth Strategy and within the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay (LSIO) that are currently residentially zoned will be designated as minimal change through the implementation of the Managed Growth Strategy.

Flooding is a key consideration in all the upcoming structure plans including:

• Huntly
• Goornong
• Elmore

If this flooding risk cannot be managed then development in these locations will not be appropriate. This includes the potential impacts on residents downstream

The City is working with the North Central Catchment Management Authority to determine if there are areas where flood studies need to be implemented into the Planning Scheme.

Council adopted the original Residential Character Study more than 20 years ago, in 2003.

There have been many changes to State and Local Planning policies over this time. This includes the introduction of:

• Planning Practice Note 90 (Planning for Housing) and
• Practice Note 91 (Using the Residential Zones)

These provide guidance for municipalities in identifying areas for housing growth.

Other changes in recent years include:

• improved residential design standards
• a new suite of residential zones
• strong requirements around environmental sustainability

It was important to have a contemporary Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy to replace the Residential Character Study 2003. This will provide up to date guidance on preferred character outcomes for different areas.

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy:

• identifies the preferred character of existing residential areas
• considers access, proximity to services and any existing planning overlays
• recommends planning controls that provide clear direction on areas well suited to accommodate housing growth
• aligns with State and Local Planning policy that encourages more diverse housing types that still complement the preferred character of an area

The Managed Growth Strategy provides the high-level residential framework for urban Bendigo. The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy provides detail around accommodating growth in the established areas and serviced townships.

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy is an input to the Managed Growth Strategy. It provides the directions for some of the key policy changes to help the City meet a target of 70 per cent of urban development to occur in infill areas.

These include:

• identifying change areas
• the proposed introduction of different residential zones. These make the development outcomes expected in different areas clear

Planning Scheme Amendment C279gben is currently underway. It proposes to introduce the Activity Centre Zone to the Bendigo City Centre. This Amendment is likely to be exhibited later in 2024.

Planning Scheme Amendment C263gben proposes to implement the Marong Township Structure Plan. This includes introducing the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to existing residential areas in Marong. We will present this Amendment to Council to consider for adoption in June 2024.

We are currently developing a Structure Plan is for Huntly. A separate planning scheme amendment will be undertaken to implement the recommendations. This will include rezoning of existing residential land in the study area.

Outside of urban Bendigo, the Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy has only considered the townships of:

• Heathcote
• Elmore and
• Axedale

This is because these townships are sewered and have a greater capacity to accommodate growth.

A Rural Areas Strategy is being prepared. It will consider the capacity of other rural townships for residential growth. An Emerging Directions paper will be presented to Council to release for community consultation later in 2024.

Currently most residential areas in Greater Bendigo are zoned General Residential. This zone allows for three-storey development or an incremental level of change.

Table 1 shows the Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy designations. These aim to provide greater certainty to the community, landowners and developers. The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy designates areas as minimal, incremental or substantial change. The designation depends on:

• Access
• Proximity to services
• Planning overlays which limit growth potential

The changes will ultimately be implemented through a planning scheme amendment process. There will be a separate exhibition process to introduce the new residential zones into the planning scheme.

Residential developments of more than one dwelling on a lot will still need a planning permit. This will consider issues such as overlooking, overshadowing, car parking and other requirements.

Table 1 – Summary of proposed change areas

Minimal change areas

More limited housing growth than other areas. Planning overlays restrict development due to special characteristics or constraints like:

• Neighbourhood
• Heritage
• Physical
• Environmental and landscape

These areas represent the lowest degree of intended housing change. They will predominantly be houses of one or two storeys.

Incremental change areas

Moderate housing growth. A similar scale to what the current planning controls allow. These areas have capacity for:

• Housing growth
• More diverse housing in the context of preferred neighbourhood character.

A large proportion of Greater Bendigo’s established residential areas are incremental change areas.

Substantial change areas

Housing intensification over time that will be of a larger scale or intensity compared to other residential areas in the municipality.

This includes areas:

• In and around large activity (commercial) centres
• Along major road corridors
• Along passenger train corridors

Neighbourhood Character refers to how buildings and streetscapes contribute to the look and feel of an area. This may include materials, landscaping, roof form, setbacks, fencing and styles of dwellings. It can also include street trees or having gardens extend into the streetscape.

We will consider Neighbourhood Character when drafting objectives for different change areas. This will provide better direction for considerations when developing land for residential development.

Example recommendations:

• Setting garages behind buildings
• Open style fencing
• Planting canopy trees
• Using simple building forms

The existing character of an area refers to the:

• Pattern
• Style
• Materials
• Landscaping
• Roof form
• Fencing

That were common to the era of development of an area.

For example, if development in an area occurred in the post World War II era this is likely to have a very different feel to an area developed in recent years.

Preferred character focuses on future development. It considers what elements of the existing character should be retained and what should change to improve the future character of an area while enabling housing growth. For example, planting trees and vegetation, setting back garages or having low front fences.

All areas have neighbourhood character and history. We determine heritage significance using recognised criteria in the Burra Charter. For more information, see Planning Practice Note 1. Heritage significance is recognised via the application of the Heritage Overlay.

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy has considered heritage in proposing housing change areas. It does not investigate the application of extra heritage controls. The City is currently undertaking a program to complete Heritage Studies and review existing ones.

In Greater Bendigo there are some areas where both the NCO and HO have been applied. The application of both overlays on the same property is not appropriate. The City is progressively removing the NCO where the HO also applies.

The Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy identifies 10 preferred Neighbourhood Character Areas. The key elements of each of these character areas are outlined through the following links:

• Gold Era
• Suburban – Early
• Suburban – 1960-1990
• Suburban – Post 2000
• Bush Garden
• Semi-Bush
• Semi-Rural
• Township
• Township Suburban
• Substantial Change

The Neighbourhood Character Overlay (NCO) is applied to areas which have a unique or distinct character that is determined to be of particular importance and needs to be retained. The application of the NCO can ensure that demolition of existing buildings and vegetation removal cannot occur until a new development has been evaluated to ensure the development will respect the preferred character.

It is not appropriate to apply the NCO to most residential areas.

The SLO is the most appropriate planning tool to protect and manage significant landscapes.

In the past we applied the SLO in some areas to ensure the retention of vegetation. Current practice is to apply the SLO only to distinctive landscapes where retaining view lines for example is important.

While retaining vegetation is important, the SLO is not the best planning tool to achieve this in most instances. The City is currently considering planning tools to protect Significant Trees. In some circumstances other overlays like a Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO) may be more suitable.

All properties are within a planning zone. The planning zones of most consideration through this work are the residential zones. The residential planning zones contain a purpose and a set of requirements.

Planning overlays apply to some sites. These overlays may be in relation to:

• Environmental risks like bushfire or flooding
• Built form elements like the heritage or neighbourhood character in particularly unique areas

Introducing schedules within zones or overlays allows us to tailor requirements specific for an area or site.

For example, the implementation of the HNCS will introduce schedules to the residential zones to better facilitate preferred character outcomes.