Consultation Closed - draft Walhalla master plan
- Project typeCommunity Consultation
- Project scheduleStage two consultation closed at 5pm on Monday 31 July 2023
Baw Baw Shire Council is developing a master plan for Walhalla in collaboration with residents, businesses, tourism agencies and government authorities.
The master plan seeks to identify and coordinate outstanding and relevant actions from the Walhalla & Mountain Rivers Destination Action Plan and the relevant documents that have incomplete actions, as well as allow community members to provide new ideas, thoughts, or concerns.
It will provide a consistent and consolidated document that will clearly outline and prioritise the infrastructure needs of Walhalla into the future.
Once adopted, the master plan will form the strategic foundation on which Council, community groups, and other agencies can seek and attract funding opportunities to bring to life the community's vision for the town and further develop the area as a tourism destination in Baw Baw Shire and the wider Gippsland region.
Phase two consultation
Following a thorough consultation program with local residents and stakeholders, a draft master plan has been developed for the historic goldmining town.
The draft plan includes 21 initiatives across the key themes of governance, infrastructure, history and heritage, tourism and environment, as well a responsible stakeholder and a priority rating for each initiative.
All community members were invited to review the draft plan, initiatives and implementation table and provide feedback before it is finalised and presented to Council for consideration.
Stage two consultation closed at 5pm on Monday, 31 July 2023.
Phase one consultation
In preparing the draft master plan, consultation began in December 2022 with a survey for all stakeholders to begin determining broad themes and common issues. The findings of the survey were used to design a series of in-person workshops and discussions.
Throughout January and February 2023, a background report was prepared and workshops were held with stakeholders to work through details, identify specific issues and agree on principles for a draft Masterplan.
With the input gathered from the consultation process, the draft master plan has been developed and is now available for community review and final refinement.
Project background
This project is an outcome of a successful community budget initiative from the Walhalla and Mountain Rivers Tourism Group, requesting funds be allocated to the development of a master plan for Walhalla.
Project outcomes and impact
The Walhalla master plan project will be the first step in helping achieve several long-term physical, social, and financial benefits for the town of Walhalla and the broader Baw Baw Region including:
Identify and coordinate outstanding and relevant Council actions
The project will help develop a unified masterplan that will identify outstanding actions that Council are the responsible authority for, identified across multiple plans that deal with the town of Walhalla. This will create planning efficiencies and eliminate confusion.
It will also greatly reduce the chance of critical actions being neglected as they are “hidden” in an isolated plan. The master plan will identify actions or items that are still relevant to the Walhalla community where Council can only play an advocacy role and this may assist community groups in applying for external grant opportunities.
Prioritising work in Walhalla.
By bringing together all the separate Council actions into one master plan for Walhalla it will enable projects to be prioritised so that the most crucial and beneficial work for the community can be delivered.
Clarify responsibilities of identified issues and prescribe courses of action
The master plan should provide clarification on the responsibilities of the agencies for each identified issue, with identified actions outside Council’s remit to be determined as an advocacy action and referred to the Economic Development team for consideration as a future Shire-wide advocacy project pending priority against all other advocacy projects.
Grow Tourism in Walhalla
The master plan may have a secondary benefit to the tourism sector by addressing any outstanding Council actions that could contribute to creating sustainable, thriving and healthy Walhalla community.
The Walhalla master plan may also assist the broader community and key stakeholders in sourcing grant funding to help deliver broader actions outside of Council’s control.
Grow Jobs in Walhalla
With the planned growth in tourism that the Walhalla master plan may support, it may also have a secondary benefit of growing jobs in Walhalla.
If Council can prioritise and fund any key actions or items identified from the master plan in which Council are the responsible authority for, this will bring workforce to the area who may in turn spend money in the local community.
Identify new opportunities to grow and improve Walhalla
The Walhalla master plan will also provide an opportunity to identify new opportunities for the town of Walhalla. While much of the identified opportunities for the town lie within the tourism sector there are other potential sources of growth that may be realised through this project.
Who is being consulted?
The development of The Walhalla masterplan will include extensive community consultation.
The project aims to work closely with residents and external organisations when setting the key strategic priorities to be addressed in the Walhalla master plan. The key stakeholders to be engaged include:
- Walhalla residents
- Walhalla Board of Management Incorporated
- Walhalla and Mountain Rivers Tourism
- Walhalla Heritage and Development League
- Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine
- Broader community members
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)
- Regional Roads Victoria
- Tourists and tourism operators
What happens next?
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. Your thoughts and ideas are highly valued and will ultimately form part of Council’s decision making process.
Council Officers will consolidate comments and feedback and consider all submissions to assist in the development of a draft master plan and future recommendations to Council.
Location
Main Road, Walhalla 3825 View Map
-37.9396973,146.4513993
Main Road ,
Walhalla 3825
Main Road ,
Walhalla 3825