The Moorabool Shire will look to access funding from the state and federal governments to create an employment hub which could generate up to 2000 jobs.
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A zoning amendment for 190 hectares of farming land south of Bacchus Marsh will be put forward at Wednesday night’s council meeting which is the proposed home for the Parwan Employment Precinct.
If given the green light by council the amendment will be passed on to a planning panel. Approval for the development of the agribusiness precinct will ultimately need to come from state Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s office.
Moorabool Shire mayor Dave Edwards said while the proposed redevelopment of the land had initially spurred council to action, the scope of the project had grown significantly since it was first raised four years ago.
“Around 70 per cent of workers commute out of Bacchus Marsh so it’s really important in a peri-urban area like ours that we start to create jobs,” Cr Edwards said.
“While (this block) might have been the instigator, if it’s not the right piece of land that will definitely not be the end of it.”
In 2016 the Victorian Planning Authority allocated $200,000 to conduct an assessment of the area.
The assessment is being conducted as part of an Urban Growth Framework for Bacchus Marsh which is being prepared by the council and the VPA
Major businesses in the Bacchus Marsh area such as Parwan Valley Mushrooms and Westside Meats abattoir have already expressed interest in the proposal.
Ballarat MP Catherine King pledged $1.5 million for the Parwan project at the 2016 election, however this commitment was not matched by the Coalition.
Council is currently in the process of formulating a business case for the project and will look to present it in time for the next round of Regional Growth Fund allocations in September.
Cr Edwards said while the project was of significant importance to the shire, council would not be able to support the development alone.
“In a council like Moorabool which has a $40 million budget it’s not like we’re in a position to outlay $10 on a project,” Cr Edwards said. “We know businesses want to come up here but the biggest problem is the cost of things like gas.”