Central Highlands
Central Highlands includes six municipalities in central western Victoria: Ararat Rural City, City of Ballarat, Golden Plains, Hepburn, Moorabool, and Pyrenees. It involves Central Goldfields in its activities, while Golden Plains also relates to the G21 region The estimated population of the region was 164,000 in 2006 with the largest concentrations of people in Ballarat, as the commercial hub of the region, Bacchus Marsh, Ararat and Daylesford. This population is projected to increase to 215,000 people by 2026.
Economic Base
- Eastern end of the region borders metropolitan Melbourne and is well connected to Melbourne's ports and airport. This has been strengthened by the Deer Park Bypass and will be further improved through upgrades to the Western Highway east of Bacchus Marsh.
- Key growth areas for the region include retail trade, manufacturing, property and business services, health and community services, education and tourism.
Opportunities
- Further investment in water infrastructure and land use planning to support existing and new industry, in particular viticulture and intensive agriculture.
- Reinvigorate the regions manufacturing industry
- Upgrade road and rail infrastructure to capture advantages of proximity to Melbourne and the national freight corridors
- Broadband infrastructure upgrade of to develop Ballarat's IT industry
- Increased investment in tourism.
Challenges
- Many towns in Central Highlands have capacity to accommodate more people to spur economic growth and development.
- To act as the region's capital, road and public transport links to Ballarat need improvements, while smaller townships need investment in sewerage connections to accommodate additional population growth.
Visit here for more details about the Grampians' outlook
Following is the Central Highlands Regional plan as presented to the Victorian Government:
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Download the Grampians Central Highlands Regional Strategic Plan - June 2010 (PDF 2.2 MB) |
Visit here for details on the Government's response to the Central Highlands Regional Strategic Plan