Surf Coast Shire has been among the fastest growing regional areas in Victoria with most of the growth in population and housing being concentrated in Torquay-Jan Juc, with Winchelsea also being identified for urban growth.

The growth of the other coastal townships has been and will remain constrained by extreme bushfire risks and growing recognition of the importance of conserving the region’s iconic landscape, environment and cultural values.

Looking forward there are, increasingly tight limits to the ongoing growth of all the Shire’s coastal townships including Torquay-Jan Juc, which is subject to a protected settlement boundary through the Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP). A key driver for the project is the release of the Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP), which impacts settlement planning for the municipality.

Given this current growth context, the Urban Futures Strategy is required to identify opportunities to meet future and employment housing needs.

To inform our initial discussions with the community for the phase 1 engagement, background work was prepared, including a Background Report, a Strategic Bushfire Assessment and District Profiles. An overview of each of these is provided below along with links to the documents.

• Strategic Bushire Assessment(PDF, 67MB)

The more heavily vegetated coastal and Otway Ranges portions of the Surf Coast Shire are subject to extreme bushfire risk with the potential for catastrophic threats to both lives and property. It severely limits options for future urban growth within the Shire.

State planning policy sets out clear requirements and priorities for addressing bushfire risk, by directing that the protection of human life is to be given priority over all other planning considerations.

To ensure that bushfire risk is properly considered as an input to the Urban Futures Strategy, the Shire engaged a specialist bushfire planning consultant (Kevin Hazell Bushfire Planning) to prepare a municipal wide assessment of bushfire risks.

The Strategic Bushfire Assessment classifies land within Surf Coast into one of four landscape types with differing levels of bushfire risk, with landscape type 1 being at the lower end risk and landscape type 4 a higher landscape risk.

Landscape Type Map Image(JPG, 453KB)

District Profiles

• District Profiles(PDF, 18MB)

A profile for each of the 8 districts within the municipality was prepared to inform development of the Urban Futures Strategy. The profiles were developed to assist with understanding the unique opportunities and constraints of different areas across the municipality.

District profiles include the following information:

• Recent population and housing statistics
• Key land use activities
• Community infrastructure, utilities and services
• Environmental hazards
• Environmental assets
• Agricultural quality (where applicable)
• Observations on future housing growth potential.

District Profile Map Image(PNG, 177KB)

Background Report

• Background Report(PDF, 6MB)

The Background Report contained information to inform community discussions that contributed to development of the Urban Futures Strategy. The report provides:

• A summary of the environmental values, risks and challenges that will constrain options available for growth;
• The identification of State government policies and requirements that inform local planning policy;
• Past and forecast population and housing growth;
• A town-by-town summary of recent residential development, current planning provisions, and constraints and opportunities on future urban growth including places suitable for additional ‘greenfield’ urban growth.

The Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy and the Urban Futures Strategy are separate and distinct projects.

The Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) identifies the environmental, heritage and landscape values of the DAL area and sets out measures to protect the declared area from inappropriate development.

The declared Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape encompasses much of the coast and immediate hinterland in the north of Surf Coast Shire. It includes and establishes protected settlement boundaries for Torquay-Jan Juc, Bellbrae, Breamlea, Connewarre and Mount Duneed. The impact of this policy is the limiting of outward growth of Torquay-Jan Juc and in turn the capacity for growth. This policy position provides a key input into the opportunities for growth that have been defined in the draft Strategy.

The draft strategy recognises that future growth and urban development in the declared area must accord with the directions and strategies in the Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) and this has been a key influence in its preparation.

Please visit the Engage Victoria website to find out more about the DAL:

www.engage.vic.gov.au/DAL

Submissions and feedback to the draft Strategy will inform the preparation of the final Urban Futures Strategy which will be presented to the Surf Coast Shire Council for adoption early in 2025.