Toolamba and Old Toolamba are experiencing increasing development interest due to their proximity to Shepparton and strong regional growth across the Goulburn Valley. The project establishes a clear framework for residential expansion, infrastructure coordination and protection of environmental and landscape values.
The Plan responds to Toolamba’s designation as an investigation area within the Greater Shepparton region while ensuring growth is carefully staged, serviced and aligned with community expectations.
Challenges for the plan included managing strong residential growth interest, coordinating infrastructure delivery with development, addressing flood and bushfire risks and environmental constraints, protecting township character and rural interface, and planning for long-term service and transport needs.
The strategic directions focus on identifying logical residential growth areas, protecting flood-prone and environmentally sensitive land, improving local connectivity and walkability, providing community infrastructure and open space, and establishing clear staging and infrastructure triggers to guide development (such as around sewerage).
The Structure Plan provides Council with a defensible growth framework, including a clear basis for future rezoning and development assessment. This has provided improved certainty for landowners, developers and the community, coordinated infrastructure planning aligned with township expansion and embedded bushfire, floodplain and landscape constraints into the spatial framework for the two towns.