Ballarat North plan approved for almost 6,000 homes
Council says the state approved the Ballarat North plan for almost 6,000 homes, but gazetted documents are unpublished and key figures are unconfirmed.
- Source Briefing
- Read original source · The Good Builder
On 8 November, The Good Builder carried news that the Victorian Government has signed off the Ballarat North Precinct Structure Plan, according to an announcement from the City of Ballarat. The site is rural land near Mount Rowan, on the northern side of the Western Freeway. The outlet says gazettal was due within days.
Why it matters
Council’s description, as relayed by the outlet, is a plan allowing nearly 6,000 homes for roughly 13,000 people. Cummins Road forms the northern edge of the area and the Midland Highway its eastern edge, some 8 km from the centre of Ballarat.
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The Good Builder says the Planning Minister handed the Victorian Planning Authority the job of preparing the plan on 31 August 2022, following a request from council, and that it is among 21 priority projects named in the Housing Statement. Under Plan for Victoria, Ballarat is aiming for 46,900 extra homes by 2051, of which 18,900 are in greenfield locations. Per the report, this precinct would supply around 30 per cent of those greenfield homes.
Council has earlier indicated that building could begin in 2027 once the plan takes effect and permit applications go in, the outlet adds. No developer is named.
The numbers
Comparing the approval with the September 2025 exhibited draft, the outlet notes the draft allowed 5,523 homes and 15,467 residents (2.8 per household), with $184.2 million of shared infrastructure in its development contributions plan. Council now cites about $164 million of infrastructure and about 13,000 residents.
By that comparison, which is the outlet’s own, the approved version carries nearly 500 additional homes, around 2,500 fewer people and about $20 million less infrastructure spending than the draft. The report cautions that it is unclear whether $164 million is directly comparable with the draft cost, and why the population estimate fell.
The wider northern growth area spans 832 hectares. The approved plan deals with a core of about 570 hectares south of Cummins Road, while a further 2,600 homes are anticipated across roughly 270 hectares north of that road, which stays in the farming zone for now, the outlet says.
In the exhibited draft, the development infrastructure levy was $672,901 for each net developable hectare, alongside a community infrastructure levy of $599.34 a dwelling, The Good Builder reports, adding that the approved levy might be different.
What’s next
When the outlet wrote, the gazetted documents were not yet public, and the Victorian Planning Authority project page still displayed the exhibited material. The outlet says the levy rate that applies to the approved plan, the staging and the timing of the first lots are still unknown.
Per the report, government business shifted to caretaker rules from 6pm on 3 November, in the lead-up to the state poll on 28 November. The Good Builder says it is not possible to say how the approved figures compare like for like with the draft until the gazetted documents are public.
Earlier Ballarat coverage: Ballarat CBD social housing, $26.9m, nears completion.
Quick answers
What are the key numbers in this story?
homes: ~6,000; residents: ~13,000; infrastructure: ~$164m.
Where does this information come from?
This story cites The Good Builder. Every source is linked on the page.
Sources
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