Aberline Road housing rezoning delayed another year 'not helpful'

A year ago, developers faced a two-year wait for farm land off Aberline Road to be ready for housing, but 12 months later they are still facing a two-year wait.

Warrnambool developer Bill Welsh said the delays were not helpful for progressing Warrnambool.

"I think Warrnambool's land availability at the moment is in a pretty bad state," he said.

"I've been saying for a while that Warrnambool is going to stall, and it's getting closer and closer all the time.

"It's just frustrating that we're in a bit of a holding pattern with no available land to sell.

"It's pretty slim pickings."

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Mr Welsh also said people were struggling to afford to get into the market, with very little vacant allotments available to purchase and the city needed to prioritise a strategy for affordable housing and land supply.

Cr Max Taylor told this month's open council meeting the East of Aberline Road Precinct Structure Plan was progressing well under the lead of the Victorian Planning Authority.

The authority told The Standard in March last year the plan would be gazetted by mid-2024.

It now says it will be mid-2025.

In 2021, developers called for the state government to fast-track rezoning of land in Warrnambool because some were running out of blocks to sell.

But the East of Aberline Road plan was overlooked as the government shifted focus to prioritise projects it wanted to fast-track in a bid to stimulate the economy after pandemic lockdowns.

That left limited resources within the Victorian Planning Authority to advance the Aberline Road project.

In 2019, the government chipped in $200,000 to help get the plan off the ground paving the way for thousands more homes.

A Victoria Planning Authority spokesperson said it expected to complete the planning for the precinct in mid-2025.

"We anticipate the East of Aberline Precinct Structure Plan, which is now under way, will create about 4000 dwellings, accommodating a population of more than 9000 people," the spokesperson said.

"We will continue to keep the community informed as the project progresses."

The precinct covers about 360 hectares of mostly farm land bordered by Wangoom, Dales, Aberline and Horne roads.

One of the proposed housing developments in the precinct includes plans for a primary and secondary school, sporting facilities and a "game-changer" 400-lot estate.

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