Gisborne Futures

The Gisborne Futures project includes:

• a Structure Plan that guides future development of housing, transport, shops, parks, landscapes and infrastructure
• an Urban Design Framework that will shape the streets and buildings in the town centre
• a Neighbourhood Character Study to guide new housing development.

Gisborne is an attractive regional township close to Melbourne that is identified in State Planning Policy as a peri-urban centre with capacity for growth. We are seeking ways to increase housing diversity, choice and affordability and better cater for a changing and growing community.

We are implementing the necessary planning tools to protect Gisborne’s neighbourhood and landscape character values.

In recent years population growth has exceeded the level anticipated in the Gisborne/New Gisborne Outline Development Plan (ODP) from 2009, and the introduction of protected settlement boundaries through the Statement of Planning Policy has initiated the need to review the township plan.

Long-term township planning is a responsibility of Council to its community and the State Government.

We plan now so residential and commercial growth is innovative, sustainable and able to provide positive outcomes for the Gisborne township and community. We are also working to make sure developments contribute financially to fund community and infrastructure upgrades in line with the rate of population growth.

The Gisborne Futures project will set a protected urban settlement boundary for Gisborne and identify future land uses for retail, employment, housing, and community services to meet the growing needs of the town.

The project also aims to improve and manage vehicle, cycle and pedestrian traffic, enable economic development, provide for open space linkages and to protect important views, landscape features and the valued qualities of existing residential areas.  

The Gisborne Futures Structure Plan was adopted at the 24 July 2024 Scheduled Council Meeting. The resolution of Council was:   

That Council: 

1. Adopts the draft Gisborne Futures Structure Plan - July 2024 included as Attachment 1 to item PE.1, subject to the following change:(a) The western edge of Precinct Four (Ferrier Road West) to be revised to show future growth in this area is subject to further visual assessment to maintain corridors with significant sequences of views along the Calder Freeway.
2. Writes to the Minister for Planning to request that an amendment be prepared under section 46AZA(1) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to amend the Macedon Ranges Statement of Planning Policy, 2019, to insert a protected settlement boundary for Gisborne, and any consequential amendment to the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme in order to insert this protected settlement boundary.
3. Requests the Minister for Planning undertake community consultation to inform a decision on Recommendation Two.
4. Notifies all submitters regarding this resolution and thank them for their feedback and participation.

View the adopted plan

The adopted version of the Gisborne Futures Structure Plan(PDF, 22MB) with the changes outlined in the resolution is now available. 

Next steps

In line with the resolution above, a request to the Minister for Planning to amend the Statement of Planning Policy to insert a protected settlement boundary for Gisborne has been made. Council is awaiting a response from the Minister for Planning to guide the next steps.  

In the meantime, work will progress on finalising the Draft Urban Design Framework and Neighbourhood Character Study. Further consultation will occur on these in 2025. There will also be future planning scheme amendments to action the strategies and objectives within the Gisborne Futures Structure Plan into the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme.  The community and stakeholders will be invited to provide feedback on future planning processes. 

Council would like to thank submitters for their feedback to the various stages of consultation and participation during the past six years leading to the finalisation of the Gisborne Futures Structure Plan project.

Technical reports 

• Economic & Employment Analysis (Urban Enterprise, 2020)(PDF, 29MB)
• Residential Land Demand and Supply (Urban Enterprise, 2020)(PDF, 7MB)
• Economic and Retail Update (Urban Enterprise, 2023)(PDF, 2MB)  
• Gisborne Structure Plan Heritage Assessment (Extent Heritage, 2019)(PDF, 6MB)
• Cultural Heritage Values Assessment (Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, 2019)(PDF, 7MB)
• Woi Wurrung Cottage Heritage Assessment (GJM, 2019)(PDF, 5MB)  
• Traffic and Transport Report (Cardno, 2020)(PDF, 13MB)  
• Traffic and Transport Appendices (Cardno, 2020)(PDF, 17MB)  
• Movement and Transport Strategy Review and Recommendations (Movement and Place, 2023)(PDF, 2MB)
• Town Servicing Report (TGM Engineers, 2018)(PDF, 4MB)
• Gisborne Community Infrastructure Assessment (SGS Economics, 2023)(PDF, 2MB)
• Bushfire Risk Assessment (Terralogic, 2024)(PDF, 6MB)
• Gisborne Futures Visual Impact Report (LAT Studios, 2024)(PDF, 28MB)

Consultation reports 

• Gisborne Futures Consultation Phase 3 (MRSC, 2022)(PDF, 7MB)
• Consultation Report Phases 1 and 2 (Ethos Urban, 2019)(PDF, 10MB)
• Consultation Report- Phase 4(PDF, 3MB)

Phase 4 Consultation - August 2023 - Draft 2 Gisborne Futures Structure Plan

The draft Gisborne Futures Structure Plan was endorsed for community consultation at the August 2023 Council Meeting.

It provides direction for Gisborne’s long-term planning and development, including a settlement boundary to accommodate projected growth until 2050.

The culmination of significant planning work and community feedback since 2018, this latest version of the draft Structure Plan responds to the community feedback received to the 2020 draft and proposes shaping Gisborne and New Gisborne as vibrant and attractive ‘twin villages’, including a new town centre for New Gisborne to reduce the dependency on the existing Gisborne town centre.

Submissions were invited until Monday 13 November 2023.

• Draft Gisborne Futures Structure Plan(PDF, 16MB)
• Gisborne Futures Structure Plan: Background Report(PDF, 16MB)
• Gisborne Futures- Phase 4 Consultation Report(PDF, 3MB)

Phase 3 - Consultation Report - August 2022

At the Scheduled Council Meeting on Wednesday 24 August 2022, the Gisborne Futures Phase 3 Consultation Report(PDF, 7MB) was considered by Council.

At the meeting it was resolved that Council:

1. Notes the Gisborne Futures Phase 3 Consultation Report and endorses the further actions to progress work to update the draft Gisborne Futures plans;
2. Endorses the proposed draft boundary for further investigation that will include areas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 outlined in the Gisborne Futures Phase 3 Consultation Report as the maximum future development scenario, noting that these areas may be modified subject to further work on the plan with no further areas to be included;
3. Provide an update to submitters and project subscribers; and
4. Continue quarterly project updates to submitters and project subscribers.

A second draft of the plans will be presented to the community for further consultation in 2023.

Project Update - July 2022

The first draft of the Gisborne Futures Plans were exhibited to the community over 7 weeks in August and September 2020.

Council received over 220 submissions to the project that have raised numerous matters to be addressed in more detail. Officers have been progressively briefing Councillors on the key themes that have emerged while concurrently preparing a consultation report.

Two workshops were held with Councillors in November 2021 and March 2022 to work through some of the key themes to progress the project. Council remains committed to understanding and responding to the views of the community through consultation processes around Gisborne Futures

A consultation report is being prepared that will include a summary of all submissions and officer responses to these, proposed changes to the plans and further work to be completed. The report and its recommendations will soon be presented to a future Scheduled Council Meeting to endorse. This will assist the project team to progress Gisborne Futures project to the next phase of community consultation, subject to Council’s decision.

Additional funding was approved in the 2022/23 Budget to further undertake additional work to progress the Gisborne Futures project to the next draft versions of the structure plan, neighbourhood character study and urban design framework. It is still some time away from the finish line for the Gisborne Futures project. Following further consultation on the second set of draft plans, the documents will be finalised and presented to Council for adoption. Following adoption, a planning scheme amendment to implement the project will be initiated.

Phase 3 consultation - 2020 - First draft Gisborne Futures Plans

Our draft Gisborne Futures Structure Plan, Urban Design Framework and Neighbourhood Character Study have been developed based on expert advice, best practice planning and urban design principles and community feedback gathered through previous phases of consultation.

These three key reports were released together in late July 2020:

• draft Structure Plan
• draft Urban Design Framework
•  draft Neighbourhood Character Study

The project also aims to improve and manage vehicle, cycle and pedestrian traffic, enable economic development and future employment opportunities, provide for open space linkages and to protect important views and landscape features.

To strengthen integrated planning outcomes, we included further work on the Gisborne Business Park expansion area into Gisborne Futures in December 2019. Council will consider the Gisborne Business Park and as part of the implementation of Gisborne Futures project.

At the 24 June 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting, Council endorsed the draft Gisborne Structure Plan, draft Gisborne Urban Design Framework and draft Gisborne Neighbourhood Character Study for community consultation.

For community consultation purposes, the opportunity to establish more shops and services east of the existing town boundary has been identified on this land in the draft Gisborne Structure Plan.

Phase 3 Consultation - 2020 

Community engagement activities as part of Gisborne Futures Phase 3 Consultation in July-September 2020 resulted in 647 survey responses and 215 submissions received, as at March 2021.  

Redacted versions of these written submissions are now available for public viewing, with all personal and identifiable details removed to meet privacy requirements. 

• View the redacted submissions
• View the redacted survey results

Gisborne Futures is the first major new planning document developed for the town since the Gisborne Outline Development Plan (ODP) was initially adopted by Council in 2006. This plan, also known as a Town Structure Plan, has been developed to ensure Gisborne's future development is managed in an orderly, coordinated and sustainable way.

The Gisborne Urban Design framework (UDF) sets the direction for future development of the Gisborne town centre, and complements the Gisborne Outline Development Plan. The Gisborne UDF was adopted by Council in September 2008. Since that time, township growth and demographics has changed and it is time to review and update the existing plan to ensure they remain current and relevant.

The 2016 Gisborne Movement Network Study(PDF, 3MB) examines the existing and future impact of various modes of traffic on the road and footpath networks in Gisborne.

Following public consultation in late 2016, Council approved the study in February 2017 for use as a reference document for future infrastructure planning investigations relating to traffic and transport within the Gisborne township.

Council commenced a neighbourhood character study to help manage change in Gisborne’s residential areas and to ensure the characteristics most valued by the community are protected and enhanced via appropriate planning controls in the planning scheme. 

Gisborne (including New Gisborne) is a large town with a range of facilities, infrastructure and services, with strong links to Melbourne. The Victorian Government has earmarked Gisborne for growth, and it is expected the town will grow from a large district town to a regional centre by 2036.

Key challenges accommodating the anticipated growth involves balancing township change with the community’s desire to maintain the town’s established semi-rural feel. Council’s planning scheme is one of many mechanisms that plays an important role to help ensure that future development enhances the character of the area.

What is neighbourhood character?

Neighbourhood character is the look and feel of an area. It is made up of a combination of the design and era of buildings, building citing, subdivision patterns, topography, landscaping and street design. Some of these things can be managed through the planning scheme.

What is the scope of the study?

In scope:

• Areas zoned for residential purposes: i.e. General Residential Zone (GRZ) and Low Density Residential Zone—located within the township boundary of Gisborne (see map)
• The character of residential zoned areas. This includes the character of streetscapes as viewed from the public realm as well as backyard character experienced from the private realm.
• Non-residential uses and buildings within residential zoned areas
• Impact of public realm infrastructure & landscapes on determining neighbourhood character: i.e. curb and channel, footpaths, nature strips and street trees.

Out of scope:

• Areas zoned for commercial, public use or other non-residential purposes
• Rezoning land within the Low Density Residential Zone
• The provision or character of parks and gardens
• General amenity issues such as overshadowing and overlooking
• Developing design guidelines for public spaces, including nature strips and street trees
• Traffic and car parking
• Development of neighbourhood character guidelines for undeveloped, “greenfield” areas
• A planning scheme amendment to introduce the recommended planning controls is not part of this project.

Community input

It is important that the community inform the identification of valued character elements and are actively involved in setting the preferred future character of their neighbourhoods.

Council developed a comprehensive engagement program and sought community input between 14 February and 16 March 2016, that included three workshops, an online survey and a door knock survey.

Status

Since commencing the study, Council received funding to review the Gisborne Structure Plan and Gisborne Town Centre Urban Design Framework.

Given that neighbourhood character planning controls might have an impact on the ability of residential precincts to suitably accommodate future housing, it is appropriate for the neighbourhood character study to be completed in the context of the strategic planning for Gisborne.