Case Studies

Background

Indigo Shire is a municipality in regional Victoria. The Shire has a strong lifestyle attraction consisting of several historic townships, productive landscapes and numerous outdoor recreational attractions. There are two major manufacturers which account for the majority of ‘industrial’ employment, the balance being made up primarily of many smaller population-serving businesses. Available industrial land is concentrated in a few of the larger townships, however much of this has some environmental or servicing constraints.

The Shire is situated between major regional centres of Wangaratta and Albury-Wodonga. Both of these centres act as employment hubs attracting a large proportion of industrial businesses in the region. Both centres also contain a large amount of zoned industrial land.

Project Goals

Indigo Shire required an analysis of industrial land focused on outlining the current context of industrial and commercial sectors within Indigo Shire, providing analysis of key industries trends and subsequent impacts on future industrial land requirements. The purpose of the study was to inform the preparation of an Industrial Land Strategy which would be subsequently developed by Council.

REMPLAN’s Involvement

REMPLAN undertook a desktop supply assessment of all industrial land within the municipality. This involved an audit of each property within identified precincts across the Shire.

While the supply assessment was being completed, REMPLAN’s data scientists and forecasters prepared industrial land demand modelling. Given the relatively slow rate of industrial land consumption in the Shire, it was not considered that basing future demand solely on past consumption would provide the most appropriate demand forecast. For this reason, REMPLAN predicted future demand for industrial land applying an employment-based approach whereby new ‘industrial-land’ jobs would demand a certain amount of land based on a range of predefined factors.

Results

The results of the industrial land assessment were delivered as both a hard copy report, but also as an online application. The online application allowed Council to modify certain inputs of the modelling, such as total land supply and share of employment occupying industrial land, to perform their own scenario and analysis after the report had been delivered. This flexibility to easily update complex modelling allows Council to test alternative future outcomes if circumstances change, such as a large new business entered town, or a significant parcel of land is developed and removed from supply.