Long-term boundaries for towns on the Bellarine Peninsula are being confirmed as part of the distinctive area and landscape (DAL) project being managed by the state government.

• View the Bellarine Peninsula long-term town boundary proposals

The project has planning scheme amendment reference number C428 – Long-term Boundary Review. You can now track the amendment online. 

Council adopted the Urban Geelong Long-term Settlement Boundary Final Report at its meeting on 23 July 2024. Officers will now prepare the amendment documentation and seek authorisation to exhibit it.

The landscape analysis work is complete. Officers are working on a report to Council for the July meeting.

The landscape analysis is underway and should be completed very soon. This work will inform the final boundary recommendations to go to Council. 

Officers have determined further view analysis is required to satisfy state government concerns on how any potential boundary change will impact the landscape objectives set out in the Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy. Procurement of a consultant is underway.

Upon completion of the landscape analysis further discussions will be had with the state government. A final position on the location of the long-term boundary will then be presented to Council for consideration.   

Formal advice has now been received by the state government and officers are working to address the matters raised.

A report to Council will not be possible this year.

The Department of Transport and Planning have advised they will not be providing feedback on the final draft until early October (feedback was requested by 4 August 2023). The report will be finalised upon its receipt.

The draft report has been referred for feedback. Feedback will be considered as part of the report finalisation in August.

The final report was received by Officers on 21 June and will now be reviewed prior to being referred.

The final report is almost complete. One of the recommendations includes minor changes to the boundary in the Armstrong Creek corridor.

As this boundary will form part of the protected settlement boundary under the Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape Statement of Planning Policy we need to refer the recommendation to the Department of Transport and Planning, servicing authorities and the Traditional Owners to test the options for feedback. The options will not be released prior to feedback being received.

This means that a report to Council will now occur later this year. The report to Council will address the options and feedback received.

We are not in a position to set a date for the Council meeting at this time. Updates will continue to be provided as the project progresses.

The final report will be completed by May with Officers to then complete a final review.

Officers will complete the Council report in May so the report can be considered at the 27 June Council meeting.

When the Council report date is locked in, we will notify submitters and interested parties via mail/email.

The report will be available to view the Friday before the meeting on our meetings page. 

The consultants did not make the 10 March submission date noted below and have advised the final report is still some weeks away.

We will not be able to make the May meeting as predicted. This is very disappointing.

As soon as we receive the final report we will update this section and confirm council meeting timelines.

The consultants did not deliver the final report by 17 February (noted below) and have advised us it will now be submitted on 10 March. This does not provide enough time to circulate, review and make any changes to finalise the report and carry out briefings prior to the April council meeting.

Unfortunately, this means we have had to push the report back to the May meeting.

The consultants should submit the draft final report for officer feedback by 17 February. Officers will then review the report prior to it being finalised. The council report will then be prepared.

The consultants are completing some additional work as part of finalising the background report. This relates to addressing and responding to submissions.

The draft report should be completed by January with Officers to review in February.

A report will then be prepared for Council and presented in April.

Officers have met with submitters and will be meeting with the consultants over the coming months to finalise the background report and respond to matters raised in submissions.

It is likely we will need to undertake additional work as part of this process, which is why the council report timeline has been extended into next year.

A more detailed project update will be provided to parties at the end of September.

98 submissions (previously noted as 112 – some supporting technical reports were added as submissions in error) have been received.

Officers are working through submissions and will offer opportunities for submitter to discuss their submission in late August / early September (a booking link will be sent to submitters via email).

Once officers have completed these meetings the Background Report will be finalised and a report will be prepared for council to consider along term boundary.

At this stage the report is pencilled in for the November council meeting.

The draft report is now available to view as part of the first phase of consultation. The draft report can be viewed below in related documents or you can visit our have your say page to learn more.

Submissions close on Friday 13 May 2022. Due to requests for extended time we will accept submissions until the Friday 27 May 2022.

The consultants have submitted the draft report. Officers will review the report and start to prepare the consultation materials.

The consultants should complete the draft report by the end of this month. Officers will then review the work and prepare the consultation.

The consultation:

• is likely to commence in early March at this stage
• will seek feedback on the investigation areas, the criteria, how the criteria has been assessed and the boundary recommendations. 

The consultants have made good progress on the background report however it will not be finalised until January 2022. This means consultation is now likely in late February–March 2022.

The lifting of Covid–19 travel restrictions means the consultants will now be able to conduct site visits in early November with a draft report due later that month. This has altered the timeline, and we will now conduct agency/government consultation in late 2021 with broader public consultation to occur in early 2022 after the Christmas/holiday period.

See the 'Key Steps' above for the revised timeline.

In July 2021 Echelon Planning were engaged to undertake the background research and preparation of the draft Background Report.

Covid–19 travel restrictions have hampered site visits, but the project team are still hoping to consult on the draft report later this year.