Hepburn Shire Council adopted its Future Hepburn settlement strategy on 3 September 2024, including Township Structure Plans (for Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, Glenlyon, and Trentham) and the Rural Hepburn Strategy.
Officers have now completed updates and the six adopted strategy documents are available on Council’s website at https://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Future-Hepburn.
Council’s strategic planning officers are now working closely with regional department officers to progress the strategy and to seek funding opportunities. There are other actions in the strategies that Council will work towards implementing, including in partnership with state bodies.
Council will develop an implementation plan for the directions, recommendations and actions in these strategies in March 2025. The implementation plan will indicate when the next stages of community input will arise including through planning scheme amendments and other implementing actions.
Council’s work aligns with Victoria’s Housing Statement and Planning for Green Wedges and Agricultural Land by providing for growth in population and the economy while protecting our productive natural and agricultural assets.
Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said that Council’s adoption of these important strategic documents followed extensive community and stakeholder engagement over many years.
“Future Hepburn is a once in a generation project. It sets out strategies to protect Hepburn Shire’s high-quality farmland, waterways and forests while directing new population growth to Daylesford/Hepburn Springs, Creswick, Clunes, Trentham and Glenlyon.”
“To inform this work, Council conducted extensive consultation with community panels, community and stakeholder groups over many years. It also obtained specialist technical advice from consultants and Council officers with expertise in planning, ecology, infrastructure, transport, recreation, and economic development,” said Mr Thomas.
This article is based on a media release from Hepburn Shire Council.
