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Warrnambool City Council is asking the community to help shape a major city-wide strategy that will guide how and where Warrnambool grows over the next 20 to 25 years.
The Warrnambool Futures Plan will look at where future housing, commercial and industrial land should be located, as well as the infrastructure, transport connections, services and employment opportunities needed to support a growing city.
The municipality’s population is projected to reach approximately 41,000 residents over the next two decades.
The Warrnambool Futures Plan will also consider how the city can grow in a climate-wise and sustainable way, with planning decisions that respond to future environmental challenges.
Warrnambool Mayor Cr Ben Blain said the plan was an important step in planning for Warrnambool’s future.
“We know more people will want to call Warrnambool home over the next 25 years and we will continue to be the regional centre of South West Victoria,” he said.
“The Warrnambool Futures Plan will help us prepare for that growth while protecting what people already value about our city.
“This is a really important piece of work because it will help guide where people live, where jobs are created and what infrastructure is needed to support our community.
“If you cast your mind back 25 years, many of Warrnambool’s major residential, commercial and industrial areas either didn’t exist or looked very different.
“Horne Road and Aberline Road were unsealed. The Dennington, Northpoint, Homemaker and Bunnings shopping precincts weren’t built. Wangoom Road was largely only used if you wanted to go to Wangoom or the Hopkins Falls.
“Each of those areas, as well as others, have changed significantly and those changes were guided by long-term land use planning.”
Read the Draft Warrnambool Futures Plan and submit your feedback
Hard copies are also available at the Civic Centre, 25 Liebig Street.
You can also attend a drop-in session at the Warrnambool Library on June 18 (2pm-6pm), June 19 (9am-1pm) and June 20 (10am-2pm).