Rural Strategy - Surf Coast Shire

Surf Coast Shire Rural Strategy Review
Final Report
6.5 Regional Direction for Rural Living
The City of Greater Geelong and the Colac Otway Shire have recently released Draft Rural
Strategies for comment. The Golden Plains Shire is currently undertaking preparation of a
Draft Rural Strategy that will be released shortly for comment.
The City of Greater Geelong has a number of existing areas of land zoned and developed
for rural living. The Draft Rural Strategy (2007) recommended that:
Rural living in the form traditionally provided in Geelong should be limited to the
existing nodes, any further expansion should be strictly limited and further nodes
developed. Rural living in this form is contrary to the vision of an open farmed
landscape being maintained in the rural areas. It is recognised that some rural land,
although zoned for agriculture, is or will, in reality, be used for larger scale rural living.
The Colac Otway Shire currently has no land zoned Rural Living. The Draft Rural Strategy
(2007) recommended that candidate areas for rural residential development should be
identified and that consideration be given to the introduction of the Rural Living Zone.
Candidate areas were identified on the basis of consideration of the following criteria:
Existing subdivision pattern;
Amount of existing dwelling development (i.e. dwelling density);
Proximity to townships; and
Agricultural capability.
The Colac Strategy notes that the candidate areas will require further analysis to meet the
requirements of Ministerial Direction No 6 for justifying a planning scheme amendment.
Discussions with Golden Plains Shire indicate that rural living in the southern end of the
Shire, adjacent to the Surf Coast Shire, is focused in townships via the Low Density
Residential Zone. Preliminary findings indicate that any future additional rural living
development in this area will be focussed on townships through application of the Low
Density Residential Zone and not the Rural Living Zone.
As outlined above, from a regional perspective, Councils are consistently seeking to retain
rural landscape and environmental values, protect high quality agricultural land and prevent
isolated rural residential development that introduces servicing difficulties. Surrounding
municipalities also acknowledge that a portion of land zoned Farming is likely to be used for
larger scale rural living. As a consequence, the municipalities in the region have identified
limited additional opportunities for rural living development.
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