Colac Civic Health & Rail Precinct - About the Project
The Colac Civic, Health and Rail Precinct will be an inclusive precinct that provides workers, visitors and residents a space to grow together and thrive through the revitalisation and expansion of housing and accommodation and key cultural, civic and health sites.
Project Purpose
The purpose of the Precinct Plan is to provide:
- A vision for the precinct that defines its intended future role and provides Council, the community and investors with clear expectations and objectives around future development.
- A long-term plan to ensure coordinated street and public place improvements within the precinct.
- Guidance around future development of key sites within the precinct, including COPACC, Colac hospital and the train station, as well as key private redevelopment sites.
- Clarity and support for the Colac Hospital to grow and develop at its existing site.
- Built form strategies, including proposed guidelines and/or requirements around building heights, setbacks, active building frontages, access and connectivity.
Have Your Say
Council sought input from stakeholders, community groups and individuals into the vision for the Colac Civic, Health and Rail Precinct Plan. The outcomes of the engagement, which included a survey and community and stakeholder workshops, is available below:
Engagement Findings(DOCX, 40KB)
This vision as expressed by the community has informed the preparation of the draft Precinct Plan.
Feedback on the draft Precinct Plan may be provided via Counci's Have Your Say page.
Need for the Project
The development of a coordinated plan for the area is necessary to ensure that the precinct continues to meet the needs of the community and its key occupants, including Colac Otway Shire, Colac Area Health and nearby businesses.
Previous work through the Colac 2050 Growth Plan, has identified the need for Master Plans to be prepared for a number of sites in the precinct, including COPACC, the Colac Hospital and the train station.
Rather than prepare individual Master Plans, the Precinct Plan will integrate the projects into a single plan, addressing the identified themes and opportunities.
Precinct Vision
Precinct Vision
- The precinct occupies a prominent location in the CBD, and with further investment, will transition over time to become a key regional-level destination within Colac, containing a range of complementary uses that support the function of the CBS, regional health, civic/cultural uses and tourism.
- A number of strategic redevelopment sites are identified that provide attractive opportunities for major private investment into accommodation, offices, community service, education and other uses that are allied with the emerging regional focus of the precinct.
- The vision and built form objectives seek to encourage more intensive redevelopment for uses that align with the evolving focus for the precinct.
Colac Train Station
Several improvements are suggested to the train station land, which is managed by VicTrack.
Although ultimate control over any redevelopment of the station rests with VicTrack, the proposed concept sets out design principles that would support future detailed design.
This includes:
- Changes to the station forecourt to improve its function as a transport interchange, as well improve the overall visitor experience, and improve the safety and amenity for patrons within the station.
- Retain the bus stop in its current location but improve access between the bus stop and train platforms by increasing the size of the pedestrian forecourt.
- Reorientation the car park and vehicle access to provide separation between cars and pedestrians.
- Support commuter use of the station by creating additional car parking in Gellibrand Street.
- Traffic calming in Gellibrand Street to provide a safer environment around the station for patrons.
Colac Hospital (Colac Area Health)
- Retention of the hospital in its current location is supported in the precinct plan.
- Opportunity to accommodate a major redevelopment up to 6-storeys in height, along with off street multi-level car parking. Built form guidelines in the plan address the need to consider the impact of overshadowing on properties to the south and ensure an appropriate response to visual bulk.
- The plan identifies preferred future public access points to be adopted in a future redevelopment. These have been nominated to address issues with access and legibility of the current hospital access points.
- Streetscape improvements to improve safety and accessibility to the hospital, as well as make these streets more pleasant for people to walk.
- Safer crossings at roundabouts and in mid-block locations so that there is no need to walk more than 100m to access a suitable crossing.
- Retention of on street parking in the short term with redevelopment of the hospital to include off street parking.
Council Office and COPACC
- Retention of the existing COPACC green space and drop off zone.
- Increase in on-street car parking adjacent to COPACC (within east-west section of Gellibrand Street).
- Future redevelopment of COPACC and Civic Centre to consider on-site car parking in the form of multi-deck parking, with preferred locations indicated on the precinct plan.
Gellibrand Street
- Several treatments are proposed to Gellibrand Street to support its function as the green spine for Colac and a key north-south pedestrian and cycle link between Colac Station and the Botanic Gardens/lake foreshore.
- It is proposed in the short term to provide for additional car parking in the section of Gellibrand Street between the Civic Centre and former hardware store building, by providing for 90-degree line marked car parks along both sides of the street.
- A longer-term project is to construct a landscaped centre median in Gellibrand Street to provide for continuous canopy cover along this section of the green spine.
Car Parking
The Precinct Plan is focussed on maximising parking within existing streets.
In the short term and based on current conditions, significant provision of off street and multi-level parking would not be viable. However, major developments on strategic redevelopment sites would be a trigger to investigate opportunities for multi-level parking on those sites.
The Precinct Plan nominates potential locations for future multi-level parking, which in all cases would be a long-term development option.
Active Transport
- The Precinct Plan aims to provide safe and continuous active transport linkages through the precinct, linking key destinations, as well as considering connectivity with the broader network.
- Streets within the precinct are typically very wide (approximately 30m) which presents an opportunity to reallocate road space from cars to pedestrians and other efficient forms of transport, whilst not impacting on the movement of vehicles.
- A mix of on-road and off-road bike lanes are proposed throughout the precinct. Off-road lanes have been sought where possible. Where this is not achievable due to existing kerb widths, on-road bike lanes are proposed. The Precinct Plan proposes that on road bike lanes be located adjacent to the kerb and protected by a physical separator.
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Scope Changes
The initial scope for the project included investigation of the feasibility of a combined office facility with Colac Otway Shire and State Government offices.
Preliminary design work was undertaken which it was found that the co-location of facilities would not be viable due to lack of space. The project scope has been revised to respond to this.
There is an opportunity for Council to undertake further planning for a range of potential complementary uses such as short-stay accommodation, multi-level car parking, conference facilities, café and office space, within the parameters set out in the Master Plan.