Current Status

Earlier in the year Mildura Council appointed consultants Plan2Place Consulting to undertake the Mildura Planning Scheme Review. The Planning Scheme is a statutory document that guides land use and development across the Mildura Local Government Area (LGA). Under the Planning & Environment Act 1987 the Planning Scheme requires review every four years, aligning with the preparation of the Council Plan.

Phase two of the Mildura Planning Scheme Review project is underway, and the project team is keen to share some of our findings from earlier community engagement undertaken in May 2024 and to provide further opportunities for your thoughts and input into the project as it progresses.

Round 2 consultation is running from 1 August 2024 to 31 August 2024. The project team (comprised of Plan2Place Consulting and Council Planners) facilitated a series of in-person drop-in sessions and pop-up stalls across the municipality in Ouyen, Red Cliffs, Mildura and Merbein from Thursday 1 August to Monday 5 August 2024.

If you weren't able to attend any of the venues we visited, we still encourage your input through the Round 2 community survey. More information about the survey follows below.

Have Your Say - Round 2 Survey

Seeking Feedback on Planning Themes from Round 1 Consultation

In May 2024, the project team asked community members what they valued about the Mildura LGA and what could be improved? The results of that consultation along with other research has been used to develop a series of suggested actions and changes to the Mildura Planning Scheme. The information from Round 1 has been organised into the following six themes:

  1. Settlement, Housing, Built Environment and Heritage
  2. Environment and Landscape values
  3. Environmental Risks and Amenity Management
  4. Natural Resources Management
  5. Economic Development
  6. Transport and infrastructure.

Please click on the themes below that interest you, to read a summary of the information received and proposed actions resulting from what you told us.

If you wish to comment on the themes and proposed actions, please click the link below to do the Round 2 Community Survey. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Did we capture your input correctly? Do you agree or disagree with the proposed response?

Take the Survey! open in new window

Next Steps

The results of the August community consultation and the Round 2 Community Survey, along with other engagement activities, will be used to develop a draft Planning Scheme Review report which will be exhibited for formal public comment later in 2024.

Following all rounds of consultation including public exhibition of a draft Planning Scheme Review report it is anticipated that a finalised report will be recommended for adoption in early 2025.

Other Project Information

The Mildura Planning Scheme is a statutory document that controls land use and development activity within the municipality, using controls such as planning scheme ordinance, maps and zones, overlays and their associated local schedules.

In accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (PE Act) the Mildura Planning Scheme is required to be reviewed every four years on a cyclical basis within 12 months of the adoption of a Council Plan. On completion the report is presented to the Minister for Planning.

The last Planning Scheme Review was undertaken in 2018-19 with the review report being adopted by Mildura Council in 2019.

The project team is commited to:

  • Taking into account your thoughts - with your comments being collected, collated and themed to form part of a short report that identifies key issues for the community in the draft Key Issues Report being developed.
  • Refining research about how the planning scheme is performing
  • Seeking your feedback on possible responses through ongoing opportunities to be part of the project
  • Developing a series of recommended actions for Council to consider that will shape the updated planning scheme
  • Reporting back to you on what Council decides to prioritise (future consultation)
  • Informing you of further opportunities to provide your input to the updated planning scheme.

Identified components of work include a standard full review of the Planning Scheme ordinance Planning Policy Framework, Municipal Planning Statement and Regional and Local Policy, along with undertaking work previously identified as future strategic work arising from the 2018-19 Planning Scheme Review.

Outstanding components also included for consideration and recommendations are listed below:

  • Gambling
  • Koorlong Landfill and ESO4 (Environmental Significance Overlay, Schedule 4)
  • Scoping brief for Barriers to Integrated Water Management / Water Sensitive Urban Design (IWM/WSUD) including in Public Open Space
  • Consideration of Public Open Space (POS)
  • Cumbungi
  • Salinity Management Overlay (SMO)

If you make a submission or provide us with your details, we will keep you informed throughout the process.

To opt-in to project updates, you can give us your email address or click 'follow' at the top of the webpage and you will be emailed when project updates are posted to this webpage.

Previous Rounds of Consultation

Round 1 (Completed 31 May 2024)

Click below for more information about Round 1 Community Consultation

Round 1 Community Engagement (led by the consultants Plan2Place) commenced Friday 3 May 2024, with various in-person activities including pop-up information stalls at several locations over the weekend 3-5 May including the Ouyen Post Office, Sunraysia Farmers Markets and Red Cliffs Country Market.

Council staff and consultants attended these venues and spoke to 100+ community members over the three days about the planning scheme review project, what matters to them and how to be involved in the ongoing consultation opportunities as the project progresses.

A short online community survey was available from 1 May to 31 May 2024. A pdf of the Round 1 Community survey is available from the Document Library for viewing or download. In the survey we sought information about people's experience of living, working in or visiting the Mildura Local Government Area (LGA) and what people wanted to see in the future for the municipality.

We asked the community to think on:

  • Have we got the issues right?
  • Are there other issues that we haven't identified that you think the planning scheme should address?
  • What do you think is important?

Simple questions within the survey that we used to help people think about the future of the Mildura Local Government Area (LGA) included:

  • What do you like/value about the Mildura LGA?
  • Is there anything you think should change?
  • Is there anything that should not change?
  • How would you like the Mildura LGA to be in the future?
  • Do you have any concerns about the future of the Mildura LGA?

From 1 May to 31 May 2024 the survey was available:

  • Digitally online for completion from this project page
  • As a pdf for viewing and download from this project page
  • As a hardcopy from MRCC Service Centres in Mildura and Ouyen.

In summary, people were keen to see:

  • More Trees and Public Open Space
  • Better technology infrastructure
  • Better medical care and health services, particularly in our smaller rural towns
  • Better parking for workers
  • Better Public Transport systems ie trains to Melbourne and Adelaide
  • More traffic lights for some intersections
  • Better environmental protection and education around recycling
  • Youth festivals

Contact Us

Have questions or want to learn more about the project, contact us below:

Name Jacqueline Murnane
Phone +61350188100
Email strategic.planning@mildura.vic.gov.au