WIMMERA Intermodal Freight Terminal will be subject to a new planning scheme amendment designed to open up surrounding land to related businesses.
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Horsham Rural City Council intends to exhibit the planning amendment early next year with proposals to re-zone farming land for businesses designed to improve the connection between produce and freight services.
Horsham council planning and economic director Angela Murphy said having value adding businesses close to the terminal would benefit farmers and the region’s economy.
“We want to rezone that land from farming to a special use zone and that is all about council facilitating relate land uses around the terminal,” she said.
“The sorts of activity that we would like to see around the terminal are value adding to the primary industries, storing of produce, warehousing and industries that serves the freight business.
“We need to do the rezoning of the land to facilitate those developments.”
Ms Murphy said the loss of some farming zone land would be more than offset by productivity and economic gains.
“I think the key is building on the strengths of grain,” she said.
“About 8000 to 10,000 containers are going out of the terminal at the moment and there is the potential to increase that to 22,000.
“This is a great opportunity for business growth and new jobs.”
Horsham councillors approved a motion to prepare the amendment at the October 17 meeting.
The amendment will propose to to rezone land in Dooen, bounded by the Henty Highway, Wimmera Highway and the Melbourne-Adelaide Rail Corridor, also known as the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal Precinct. The land would be rezoned from the farming zone to the special use zone schedule nine.
It would introduce an environment significance overlay to create a freight precinct Buffer Area,
“The 2012 Structure Plan established land use and development guidelines that seek to facilitate the land for freight, logistics, transport related activities, industry, manufacturing, and other related commercial and support activities, Ms Murphy’s report to councillors stated.
“The amendment is required to bring these guidelines into the Planning Scheme, thus affording them statutory weight.”