Growing up: The country town proposing to build apartments above shops

Bacchus Marsh is growing up – literally.

The regional town about an hour’s drive west of Melbourne has experienced “phenomenal” population growth and could soon find its low-rise town centre has apartments reaching up to four storeys.

An artist’s impression of possible development styles in the heart of Bacchus Marsh.

“It would definitely be new for Bacchus Marsh,” said Moorabool Shire councillor and former mayor Tom Sullivan.

The council is consulting residents on revitalising the town centre – which has historic buildings dating to the 1850s – after endorsing a proposed structure plan at a recent meeting.

It’s also seeking to protect productive agricultural land from being gobbled up by tree-changers as newcomers flock to the region.

Bacchus Marsh, known for its fertile fruit orchards and fields of vegetables, is among Victoria’s fast-growing communities: its population soared from 12,107 in the 2001 census to 21,692 in 2021.

Main Street in Bacchus Marsh, where the shire wants to allow apartment living.Credit: Penny Stephens

The council’s new plan sets out a vision for land use in the town centre over the coming 15 years, including “unlocking key development sites”.

“The town centre should be an attractive and vibrant hub where people shop, work, meet, relax and live,” the plan says.

It also seeks to preserve its historic buildings and “ghost signs”, which are typically large painted advertisements from bygone eras.

“Numerous buildings of heritage character and value remain within the town centre, which adds to the general ‘large country town’ character,” the plan says.

Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society president John Spain and secretary Barb McMillan in Main Street.Credit: Penny Stephens

But the council wants to encourage more apartments and townhouses in the centre and “mid-rise development” of between two and four storeys.

“Some of this development may be vertical in scale with suitably integrated ‘above-shop’ infill development,” the plan says.

Sullivan said the low-rise town centre could accommodate four-storey buildings, and he expected there would be some demand for inner-city style dwellings.

He said some people might be willing to live in homes without much outdoor space because scenic natural areas – including the Lerderderg State Park – were nearby.

“You don’t need a big backyard if you’re close to open space.”

Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society president John Spain said the structure plan appeared to outline appropriate protections for the town’s heritage buildings, including setbacks for new developments, to maintain the prominence of historic structures.

He said it was inevitable there would be more development in the centre because of the area’s rapid population growth. “It’s been phenomenal,” he said.

Spain said more commercial development and higher density in Bacchus Marsh might create more local jobs and enhance the business district, rather than residents having to commute to Melbourne for work.

“For the past 40 or 50 years Bacchus Marsh has been a dormitory town.”

Professor Alan March, a planning expert at the University of Melbourne, said it made sense to have medium-density housing in regional areas, including commercial benefits that came with a bigger customer base to support businesses and more vibrant nightlife.

“It makes them safer,” he said. “There are more people around.”

March said living above shops in regional towns would suit some people, particularly if there were plenty of services nearby.

Bacchus Marsh is surrounded by rapidly-developing urban areas. Credit: Penny Stephens

Higher density living might also attract more workers to fill job shortages, including doctors, teachers and even nurses on placements.

“They need to go and live somewhere,” March said. “Often country towns can have vastly different rental offerings from the blindingly expensive to very cheap, or they just don’t have anything at all.”

However, Moorabool Shire’s viability as an agricultural region is also under threat from population growth, the council warned.

City dwellers chasing a rural lifestyle are putting pressure on the shire to rezone agricultural land for housing, which would build a “proliferation of dwellings” in the area and fragment good farmland.

Bacchus Marsh has to balance the push for more housing with its fertile land for growing food.Credit: Penny Stephens

“The situation threatens the viability of the shire’s agricultural production and future food security, environment, landscape, water resources and other rural industries,” the council said last month, when it released an updated rural land use strategy.

According to that strategy, new residents have moved to the area seeking a rural lifestyle, only to raise complaints against noise, dust, light and fumes associated with farming activities. The council is now working on a policy that will determine how to manage development challenges on rural land.

The emergence of new housing in the area also undermines the economic viability of farming because residential land values are higher than agricultural values, the strategy says.

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