King and Queen Street Wallan Master Plan

Council at its Ordinary Meeting held 13 December 2021 adopted the King and Queen Street Wallan Masterplan. A copy of the adopted Masterplan is available for download on this page.

An Officer Report considering submissions to and adoption of the Draft Masterplan has been prepared for the Ordinary Meeting of Council to be held on Monday, 13 December 2021.

A copy of the Agenda for the meeting, including the relevant Officer’s Report, will be available on Council’s website at https://www.mitchellshire.vic.gov.au/about-council/council-meetings/agendas-and-minutes during the afternoon of Thursday, 9 December 2021.

The Council meeting commences at 7.00pm on 13 December 2021. Council Meetings are currently closed to in person viewing however can be viewed online at: https://www.mitchellshire.vic.gov.au/about-council/council-meetings/watch-council-live

Drop-In Sessions Concluded

Council held drop-in sessions for the Draft Masterplan on 14 May 2021 and 6 August 2021. Approximately 25 attendees came across both the sessions.

Submissions Closed

Submissions to the Draft Masterplan closed on 6 August 2021. At time of publication, Council has received 61 submissions to the Draft Masterplan. Of these submissions 31 are opposed to the proposed Connector Road.

Wallan Community Park/Connector Road

At the two drop-in sessions residents discussed shifting the proposed connector road entry point further east along Watson Street and out of Wallan Community Park. Residents requested Council to seek a review of this matter from the Department of Transport (formerly VicRoads).

The Department of Transport have since provided formal advice to Council which reinforced its position on the connector road entry point on traffic movement and safety grounds.

Based on this advice and the traffic and transport assessment prepared earlier this year, Council Officers will recommend retaining the connector road entry point through Wallan Community Park.

The advice provided by the Department of Transport is reproduced below:

“The Department of Transport supports the inclusion of a new connector road to link Watson Street and William Street as it will significantly assist in north-south connectivity as well as movements accessing the Hume Freeway and the Wallan East Railway Station. It will also significantly reduce demand and need for capacity improvements to Windham Street.

It is the Departments position that this connector road be aligned with the existing McCarthy Court intersection to alleviate the need for a staggered T intersection arrangement with McCarthy Court and therefore the need to consider split signals and signal phasing.

Signal phasing would have an adverse impact by increasing the travel time for through movements along Watson Street and ultimately could create queuing that would likely back up traffic movements exiting off the freeway, given the close proximity of the intersection to the Hume Freeway ramps.”

Next Steps

The following dates are scheduled for Council to consider the adoption of the Masterplan:

Community Questions and Hearings Committee

The Community Questions and Hearings Committee provides submitters with the opportunity to directly present their submission to Councillors. This is scheduled for Monday 8 November 2021 at 7pm.

Adoption

An Officer Report seeking adoption of the Masterplan is tentatively scheduled to be considered at the following Council Meeting: Monday 22 November 2021 at 7pm

Once the Council Meeting date is confirmed further information will be provided to submitters advising the process for registering and presenting at the Hearings Committee and the final Council Meeting date.

Council initially conducted consultation on the Draft King and Queen Street Masterplan in August and September 2020. Council has reviewed submissions and provided updated plans and an information sheet in response to submissions raised. Council will take further submissions on the Draft Masterplan until 28 June 2021.

The Draft King and Queen Street Masterplan is now out for community consultation and we want to hear from you.

The King and Queen Street is highlighted as part of the Wallan Structure Plan and is recognised as a key future development hub.

So what are we proposing in the draft of the masterplan?

- A potential to open a new open space park for the community
- New roads to link Watson Street and William Street to improve connectivity
- A shared footpath to connect the Community Park with Mittagong Creek and expand accessibility in Wallan
- More residential options for a growing community

The King and Queen Street precinct is one of several planned residential growth areas in Wallan, which will cater for much of the town’s planned growth.

As outlined in the draft master plan, Mitchell Shire is forecast to house more than 128,000 residents by 2040. This means about 447 homes or dwellings will need to be built each year to allow this many people to call Wallan home.

This Masterplan is a follow on from work previously prepared for the Wallan King and Queen Street area. It was commissioned to provide the next level of detailed planning for the area, to assist Council and landowners/developers in how the area needs to be developed and future opportunities.

Whilst this Masterplan is not being prepared as a Development Plan, the Masterplan can provide Council and developers/ landowners with the framework to enable them to complete the required work to continue development.

The plan implements the vision for the area that has been developed through the Wallan Structure Plan and earlier strategic projects and ensures that development is provided in an integrated and connected way