Land Development Strategy

Council has prepared the Draft Alpine Shire Land Development Strategy (LDS) to show how growth will be accommodated in Alpine Shire for at least 15 years and up to 2041 - and we need your help! 

The final Alpine Shire LDS wil:

• Consider projected population growth, and future housing and employment needs in our major towns to 2041 

• Identify constraints to development e.g., flooding, bushfire, and infrastructure and servicing needs 

• Identify key trends that have shifted demand for housing 

• Enabls change that responds to the valued character and qualities that distinguish each of the municipality’s townships and settlements 

• Focus on the orderly development of urban land uses in the four Service Towns (Bright, Mount Beauty-Tawonga South, Myrtleford and Porepunkah), which will accommodate the majority of the municipality’s future growth. 

The LDS will need to: 

• demonstrate to the Department of Transport and Planning how Alpine Shire will accommodate future housing and employment land consistent with community values 

• identify the future role and function of the settlements to guide future decision-making for liveable places 

• provide the basis and scope for future structure planning in the four Service Towns to addresses neighbourhood character, encourage greater housing diversity and accommodate employment activities 

The Land Development Strategy will not: 

• Provide detailed guidance on rural and rural residential land use or smaller settlement areas – this will be addressed via the review of the Alpine Shire Rural Land Strategy 

• Allow any areas to proceed immediately to rezoning for housing or employment uses 

• Provide guidance on community services or open space. 

Community Engagement

Community Engagement to date 

From October 2022 to February 2023, Council undertook community consultation on the Alpine Shire Land Development Strategy. 

• Read Your Town, Your Future - Future Directions Paper - Summary Document 

• Read the Your Town, Your Future - Future Directions Paper - Full Document 

From October 2023 to December 2023 the Draft Land Development Strategy was endorsed by Council and for public consultation. This consultation resulted in 25 submissions.  

Key findings

The draft Alpine Shire Land Development Strategy: 

• projects that Alpine Shire will grow to 15,890 people by 2041, an increase of around 2,734 people in the 20 years from 2021. It is expected that there will be a need for an additional 2,167 houses across the Shire to 2041 to accommodate this growth (75 per cent of this demand is expected to flow to urban settlements (1,625 dwellings) and 25 per cent to rural areas (542 dwellings)) 

• establishes there is capacity for 1,266 (~77%) of the 1,625 homes needed by 2041 in areas already zoned for urban use (e.g., existing towns and settlements). Under the existing policy settings, there will be a shortfall of ~360 dwellings in existing settlements by 2041, with the largest housing demand projected in the Bright and Porepunkah townships 

• identifies about 22,000m2 of additional commercial and industrial land on in service towns by 2041 to accommodate future employment activity and attract new industry. This includes consideration for future growth in Myrtleford/Barwidgee to ensure there is some capacity for new industry or larger scale manufacturers in the future 

• provides updated framework plans for the four Service Towns of Bright, Mount Beauty-Tawonga South, Myrtleford and Porepunkah to show investigation opportunities capable of accommodating the housing shortfall as well as opportunities to increase the amount of employment land across the municipality. 

Current and next steps  

Following endorsement and public consultation process on the draft, a final Alpine Shire Land Development Strategy will be prepared in early 2024. Council is expected to consider all submissions received and the final strategy in mid to late 2024.