Messmate Road Growth Area, Torquay

The Surf Coast Shire Council Plan includes a strategic direction titled ‘Sustainable Communities’. In the Surf Coast Shire context building sustainable communities includes the following:

• planning for a wider range of housing types and more affordable housing options
• maintaining what people love about living in this region, including town character and our significant natural landscapes
• providing local employment opportunities
• increasing community liveability by reducing car dependency.

The Precinct Concept Plan developed for the Messmate Road Growth Area has been designed around six key principles that are aligned with the above goals.

Key Principles:

Integrated water management
Protecting the environment and local waterways, with no urban stormwater to be directed to the sensitive Karaaf Wetlands.

Environment

• Protect remnant vegetation and mitigate impacts to native fauna.
• Create tree-lined streets and walkable neighbourhoods.
• Recognise and protect Aboriginal cultural heritage.

Housing
Meeting the strategic need for a diversity of housing and lot sizes to suit differing residents’ needs, while maintaining Torquay’s coastal character.

Movement
Creating a safe and interconnected street network suitable for all users, including walkers and cyclists, with road and intersection upgrades to cater to traffic volumes.

Open space and community facilities
Community services that meet local needs, and open space distributed across the growth area (within 400m of all homes).

Employment
Creating local jobs with employment land along Messmate Road and a centrally located neighbourhood activity centre featuring shops and services.

Council commencement development of a Precinct Concept Plan following the lodging of a development enquiry by a landowner group for the northern section of the Messmate Road Growth Area. A formal development application is now progressing through the Victorian Government’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP).

The DFP is a state-led accelerated assessment pathway for eligible development projects.

Through the development of the Urban Futures Strategy Council determined that a master planning approach for the entire Messmate Road Growth Area precinct was required. A master planned approach would help achieve the best outcomes for the community and provide for an equitable distribution of land uses across the precinct (i.e. public open space, residential land, employment land, nature reserves and waterways/drainage).

Through the adoption of the Precinct Concept Plan, Council encouraged a whole of precinct approach by the Development Facilitation Program.

The Precinct Concept Plan documents Council’s development aspirations for the precinct and is intended as a key guide to influencing the final outcome. The Plan will be used to inform Council's formal submission to DFP through the Engage Victoria platform.

An initial concept plan was endorsed by Surf Coast Shire Council at its October 2025 ordinary Council meeting.

The plan was updated in June 2026 to reflect the progress of discussions with the Development Facilitation Program and landholders.

The updates seek to strengthen Council's position regarding:

• Support for affordable housing as part of the area’s development
• Land use and infrastructure to be located around a planned Neighbourhood Activity Centre
• Traffic and movement within and around the precinct, including the internal road network
• Open space and water management outcomes
• Alignment with the Victorian Government’s Distinctive Area and Landscape statement of planning policy

This webpage features the updated plan.

Council is advocating for:

• a comprehensive masterplan for the entire precinct, in line with the principles and spatial arrangements set out in the concept plan; and
• infrastructure and development contributions to be assessed across the entire precinct.

Our Precinct Concept Plan is closely aligned with several key strategic documents, including:

• our Council Plan 2025-29;
• our Urban Futures Strategy; and
• the Victorian Government’s Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Statement of Planning Policy for the Surf Coast.

Key features of the plan aligning with our Urban Futures Strategy and the Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Statement of Planning Policy include:

• Protects the Karaaf Wetlands – diverts all stormwater run-off to Deep Creek.
• Mitigates impacts to Deep Creek – directs stormwater run-off to a series of wetlands to limit flow rates and improve water quality.
• Protects native vegetation – proposes tree protection reserves and service roads.
• Protects the declared area’s significant landscapes – will not impact on any state or nationally significant landscapes.
• Protects the ridgeline – development setback to minimise views of the growth area from the surrounding rural areas.
• Proposes environmentally sustainable subdivision – the road layout encourages solar efficient lot layouts.
• Encourages active transport – by proposing medium density housing within a 400m walking distance of the Neighborhood Activity Centre .
• Proposes additional employment land –  by nominating employment land along Messmate Road, which will help people to live locally and reduce car dependency.

Council has worked with Barwon Water, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, and Southern Rural Water to prepare an Integrated Water Management (IWM) Plan(PDF, 34MB) for the new precinct, which was adopted by Council at the 24 March 2026 Council Meeting.

The IWM Plan sets out how water, stormwater and land will be managed as the area grows. It provides a clear, long-term framework to guide sustainable development and protect the local environment.

Protecting our natural environment

A key commitment of the Plan is protecting the environment. No urban stormwater from the new precinct will be allowed to flow into the Karaaf Wetlands. Instead, stormwater will be carefully managed and directed to Deep Creek in a way that protects the health of this important waterway. Environmental excellence is at the heart of this work, reflecting Torquay’s status as a Distinctive Area and Landscape (DAL).

To inform the Plan, Council commissioned three detailed technical studies to better understand existing conditions and identify the most effective stormwater management solutions.

You can read the reports below:

• Existing Conditions Report - Deep Creek(PDF, 15MB)
• Post-Development Conditions Report - Deep Creek(PDF, 7MB)
• Stormwater and Waterway Management Strategy(PDF, 2MB)

The reports were commissioned following a government agency–led Integrated Water Management (IWM) design sprint, which identified this technical information as critical to informing decisions and ensuring the protection of downstream receiving environments.

You can access the full design sprint report and a summary version below:

• IWM Design Sprint - Messmate Road Growth Area(PDF, 1MB)
• IWM Design Sprint - Summary Version(PDF, 1MB)

Council's Precinct Concept Plan has been prepared with input from subject matter experts across a range of departments within Council.

It is closely aligned with the strategic objectives in our Urban Futures Strategy, as well as the Surf Coast Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Statement of Planning Policy. Both of these projects involved extensive community consultation.

In this way it takes into account the community’s views on how new development should be planned and managed in the Surf Coast Shire.