Environmentally Sustainable Design - Subdivisions in Regional Victoria

Baw Baw Shire Council together with Wodonga City Council, Greater Geelong City Council, Greater Bendigo City Council, Ballarat City Council, Greater Shepparton City Council, Wangaratta Rural City Council and Moorabool Shire Council were awarded funding through the Collaborative Councils Sustainability Fund Partnership Program Round 3 to undertake a project to assess how greenfield subdivisions can be more environmentally sustainably designed and delivered to achieve multiple benefits in the most cost effective way over time.

The project has two parts:

  • Proof of concept study (Stage 1A)
  • Cost benefit analysis (Stage 1B)

The goals of this project are to:

  • Define ‘best practice’ ESD with respect to greenfield subdivision and determine how it should be measured.
  • Establish how ‘best practice’ ESD subdivisions are feasible in regional Victoria.
  • Recommend a suite of tools and a model for collaborative implementation, with transferability across the State.

The project provides a basis to progressively improve the sustainability of subdivisions without creating an unreasonable burden on land developers or home owners. Coupled with gaps, or minimal requirements in current planning and building regulations, many subdivisions fall short of ESD principles and best practices. There are cost effective measures for greenfield subdivisions, that can be tailored for their regional contexts; supported by education, advocacy, communication, policy and regulation to improve the early uptake of ESD principles in both subdivisions and individual dwellings.

To learn more about this project, you can click here to download the Environmentally Sustainable Design for Subdivisions in Regional Victoria: Proof of Concept and Cost Benefit Analysis report(PDF, 4MB) . 

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