The rural zones currently applied across Greater Bendigo are generally those which have been inherited after Council amalgamations, and after State level changes to zones and have never been subject to a detailed review.

A number of key issues have been identified, including:

• The Farming Zone (FZ) has been applied as a default zone across large areas of Greater Bendigo without consideration of the land attributes.
• Inappropriately located Rural Living Zone (RLZ) land can impact on the productive quality of surrounding agricultural land.
• A high theoretical RLZ land supply is noted, however on initial review appears to be constrained, particularly due to vegetation cover and the associated bushfire risk. This makes it difficult to quantify the actual supply of RLZ land, relative to perceptions of an oversupply. This is an issue requiring further investigation and analysis.
• The demand for rural living and/or ‘rural lifestyle’ dwellings across Greater Bendigo appears to be increasing and is likely to gain pace as the population grows.
• Uptake of RLZ land is varied across several clusters with demand being high in some areas and negligible in others.
• The Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ) on the west side of Lake Eppalock includes substantial areas of farmland that are outside the Lake Eppalock catchment. This RCZ places additional permit requirements on the land and it may be more appropriate as FZ.
• There are large areas of mostly cleared agricultural land which is zoned RCZ without any obvious environmental values to be protected.

A number of opportunities have been identified, including:

• RLZ development could be consolidated into appropriate settlement clusters in locations identified as being low risk.
• The appropriate location/s of RLZ land based on risk profile could be considered. Areas that are not likely to be developed due to physical constraints or other risks could be reconsidered for a more appropriate zoning.
• The specific demand for various landscapes of RLZ land can be explored further to identify areas which align with market preferences.
• Consider the uses allowed by the Rural Activity Zone and whether there are areas where it should be applied.

Strengthen the ability to refuse non-agricultural uses in the FZ by ensuring that all rural land is zoned for its preferred use and does not have the FZ applied as an automatic default.

A number of potential strategies have been identified, including:

• Consolidate RLZ clusters to protect larger contiguous productive farms and focus service delivery.
• Consider applying the default minimum RLZ lot size of 2 hectares in areas outside of the Lake Eppalock catchment and where agricultural land quality is considered low and land is not otherwise constrained.
• Align the RCZ zoning on the north east side and west side of Lake Eppalock to coincide with catchment area.
• Review existing RCZ minimum lot sizes to ensure they support current environmental conservation goals as opposed to use of the land for a dwelling.
• Review the application of the RCZ to ensure that it applies to areas with environmental values to be protected.
• Update FZ schedules to increase the minimum lot size requirement for requiring a permit to construct a dwelling.
• Consider the introduction of the Rural Activity Zone, in appropriate locations, to provide for non-agricultural uses and development which are compatible with agriculture and the environmental and landscape characteristics of the area.