The Housing and Settlement Strategy (H&SS) is a planning document that provides a framework for how Council proposes to manage sustainable housing growth and consideration of land use planning.

As part of Council’s ‘Shaping Our Future’ community consultations in 2021, you told us how much you valued our Shire’s beautiful natural environment and rural landscapes and that they should be balanced with sustainable growth. This input helped us to develop our Council Plan 2021-2025.

To ensure that we are planning for the changing needs of our residents and providing opportunities for the right dwellings in the right places, Council has developed a draft Housing and Settlement Strategy (H&SS), which will sit alongside the Murrindindi Planning Scheme once adopted by Council.

The H&SS is being prepared in stages as follows:

• Stage 1 (2021) - Council engaged with community and stakeholders to inform the development of the Community Vision and Council Plan for 2021-2025 as part of the Shaping Our Future project. Over 500 community members participated from across Murrindindi Shire through March and April 2021. Several Housing and Settlement issues were identified and noted within the Stage 2 report.
• Stage 2 (2021/2022) - Background and Issues Report (inc stakeholder consultation).
• Stage 3 (2022) - Housing & Settlement Strategy (Current Stage)
• Stage 4 (2023) Implementation (targeted projects, Planning Scheme Amendment).

The H&SS will not result in the rezoning of land. Any changes to the planning scheme would require a separate planning scheme amendment process.

While Council cannot directly control population growth and build housing, it has a clear role to play in influencing and planning for the changing needs of our current and future residents.

Council has a role in planning to accommodate the changing nature of our population and in ensuring that growth is appropriate to meet future needs. Council has three key responsibilities in regard to housing and settlement:

• As a planning authority Council needs to ensure that land is appropriately identified and zoned for residential purposes. Council is required to work within the Local Government Act 2020 and the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to set the strategic policy framework for land use planning across the Shire. It is also Council’s role to administer the local planning scheme and to consider and make decisions on proposals and applications regarding the use and development of land for net community benefit.
• As a regulatory authority (Rooming/Boarding Houses) - Council has a responsibility within the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 to promote and protect the health and wellbeing of residents. This is done in a range of ways including understanding the current and changing needs of the community and through the development of a Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. The Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 also requires operators to register their rooming houses with Council if they intend to rent out one or more rooms to four or more people.
• As a community advocate - Council has limited legislative ability to create substantial change in these areas on its own, however, working in partnership across the region and advocating for community needs to higher levels of government is also an important role we play.

As part of the development of our 2021-2025 Council Plan, we received a significant amount of feedback regarding housing and settlement issues across the Shire. This feedback has helped inform the development of the draft H&SS.

We now have a draft H&SS to present to the community and are looking for your feedback. There are several ways you can participate, including:

• Attending a pop-up event during October and early November
• Completing the online survey
• Giving Council a call on 5772 0333 or sending an email to planning@murrindindi.vic.gov.au

The Strategy focuses on the role that rural residential housing makes within the Shire. It also examines constraints to growth, including the need to protect agricultural land for farming purposes. It is not intended that the strategy will review minimum lot sizes within the Farm Zone.