Victoria Unlocks New Suburb for Shepparton

As the demand for housing in the regions grows, a new suburb has been given the green light for Shepparton in regional Victoria. 

The Victorian Government has approved the Shepparton South East Precinct Structure Plan (PSP), which will create a suburb for the regional centre. 

PSPs are created by the Victorian Planning Authority, now part of the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), and are high-level strategy documents that dictate what land within a precinct is earmarked for what land use. 

They then allow councils and the DTP to make determinations on planning applications for projects within the precinct.

The Shepparton South East PSP is expected to make it possible to build more than 2900 homes, allowing more than 7000 new residents to move in.

It was developed in partnership with the Greater Shepparton City Council with community input and will include housing, services, infrastructure, walkable neighbourhoods, community facilities and local parks. 

There will also be a recreation reserve, and walking and cycling trails to connect residents to shops, services and schools. 

▲ Wel.Co founder Andrew Welsh is critical of the VPA-managed PSPs.

PSPs have also had their fair share of criticism with Wel.Co founder Andrew Welsh saying it was often easier to deal directly with councils in creating PSPs rather than engage with the VPA. 

The VPA itself was absorbed into the DTP in 2024 to address the delays in creating and approving the long list of PSPs that communities, councils and developers were waiting on.