Wel.Co has opened expressions of interest for Arndell ahead of a first land release in November. The planning file behind the estate shows why Ballan needed the land, and what the controls ask of the builders who will eventually work there.

Ballan is about to get a new neighbourhood, and the planning file says the town needed one.

Developer Wel.Co has unveiled Arndell, a masterplanned community on Old Melbourne Road that it says will deliver more than 850 homesites across roughly 100 hectares. Expressions of interest are open now, with the first land release scheduled for November.

For a town of 3,392 people at the 2021 Census, that is a big change. The ABS counted 1,505 private dwellings in Ballan that year. Arndell alone would add more than half as many again.

The independent panel that assessed the rezoning put it plainly. At full development, the planning panel found the precinct would almost double the size of the town.

What is Wel.Co releasing at Arndell?

Arndell sits on the western side of the Werribee River, bounded by the Western Freeway, Geelong Ballan Road and Old Melbourne Road. The existing town sits across the river to the east.

According to Wel.Co, almost a third of the site, about 28 hectares, will be open space. That includes three local parks, two wetlands, an active recreation reserve and a network of walking and cycling paths linking into the Werribee River corridor.

Wel.Co founder and managing director Andrew Welsh said the aim was for the estate to read as part of the existing town.

“We want Arndell to feel like a natural extension of Ballan, with open space, recreation and connection part of everyday life,” he said.

The developer points to the shops, schools, sporting facilities and V/Line station already in Ballan, and puts the town about an hour from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Ballarat.

How did Ballan Precinct 5 get rezoned?

Arndell is the marketing name. In the planning system, the land is Ballan Precinct 5, and its path to market has been a long one.

The site was identified for growth in the Ballan Framework Plan, which entered the Moorabool Planning Scheme in March 2020. Whiteman Property and Associates, acting for Wel.Co, requested the rezoning. The Minister for Planning authorised Moorabool Shire Council to prepare and exhibit the change, known as Amendment C108moor, on 5 August 2024.

The amendment was exhibited from 24 January to 3 March 2025 and drew 68 submissions. Township character, traffic, the river environment and school capacity were among the main concerns. A panel heard the matter in July 2025 and found the rezoning strategically justified. The amendment came into operation on 13 March 2026.

That is six years from framework plan to zoned land, for a precinct that was already earmarked for growth. It is a familiar gap between intent and delivery, and we saw a far longer version of it at Kings Forest on the NSW North Coast.

Why did Ballan need more residential land?

The short answer is that the town was running out.

A residential land assessment prepared by Ethos Urban in February 2024 for the amendment found the existing residential zoned land in Ballan could hold about 260 more lots. At an assumed demand of 90 dwellings a year, that was 2.9 years of supply.

Victorian planning policy requires councils to maintain a 15 year supply of residential land across their municipality. The panel accepted there was a relatively pressing need for more land in Ballan.

With Precinct 5 rezoned, the amendment documents estimate supply rises to about 13 years under the base case, or about 10 years if demand runs at 115 dwellings a year.

The bigger picture sits at shire level. Plan for Victoria gives Moorabool a target of 20,000 net new dwellings by 2051. A large share is expected around Bacchus Marsh, where the draft Merrimu Precinct Structure Plan proposes about 8,000 homes. Ballan is the second largest town in the shire and its second growth front.

What do the Arndell planning controls mean for builders?

This is where the planning file matters more than the brochure.

The land is zoned Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 10. That zone carries a mandatory limit of two storeys or nine metres. Single and double storey homes are what the zone is built around.

The lot mix is layered. Conventional lots in the core are proposed at between 400 and 700 square metres, with medium density housing around open space and the local shops, and larger lots along the freeway, the main road frontages and the river edge. The panel rejected a council proposal for a 600 square metre average lot size, preferring lot sizes that respond to demand over time.

Three controls reach down to individual home sites.

Bushfire is the first. The land is in a Bushfire Prone Area but assessed as low risk, and the requirements are designed so future dwellings do not exceed a Bushfire Attack Level of 12.5.

Noise is the second. Lots near the Western Freeway will sit behind acoustic treatment, with barriers of up to seven metres in places. The panel recommended the controls make clear that either the developer or future home builders, as appropriate, carry the cost of mitigation measures.

Landscape is the third. The controls require at least 30 per cent tree canopy across the public realm and open space, with a village scale design response.

What is a Development Plan Overlay?

A Development Plan Overlay is a Victorian planning control that requires a development plan to be approved by council before planning permits are granted for the land. At Ballan Precinct 5, Schedule 9 of the overlay requires a masterplan generally in accordance with an approved concept plan, plus supporting plans for transport, servicing, biodiversity, water, bushfire and acoustics.

What still has to happen before homes go up?

A rezoning is not a building permit, and Precinct 5 has more steps ahead.

Servicing is the one to watch. Central Highlands Water told council the Ballan sewerage system will need augmentation to cater for Precinct 5 at full build out, alongside upgrades to water supply.

The intersection of Geelong Ballan Road and Old Melbourne Road will need upgrading, with the arrangements secured through a section 173 agreement. A Cultural Heritage Management Plan, prepared with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, must be approved, and targeted flora surveys are still required at the right time of year.

None of this is unusual for a greenfield estate. It does shape the order in which stages reach the market. The planning expert who gave evidence for the proponent expects the precinct to be developed over 10 to 15 years or more.

Where does Arndell sit in the regional Victorian pipeline?

Ballan is not a Melbourne growth area. It sits outside the urban growth boundary in a peri urban shire, and the panel was careful to say the growth expected there is not the same as in metropolitan growth areas.

It is also a detached house town. At the 2021 Census, 93.5 per cent of occupied dwellings in Ballan were separate houses and 5 per cent were semi detached, terrace or townhouse dwellings.

That makes the medium density pockets at Arndell a newer product for this market. Other regional Victorian releases are heading the same way, as our coverage of the Amess Road precinct in Riddells Creek showed.

The Good Builder Take

Land supply stories usually stop at the rezoning. The detail that matters to builders sits in the overlay.

At Arndell, the two storey limit, the bushfire and acoustic requirements and the sewer augmentation will shape what gets built and when, long after the first lots sell. The November release is the start of a long project, not the end of a planning story.

Welsh describes Arndell as a long term project that will grow alongside Ballan over many years. On the planning evidence, that is an accurate description.

For the national picture on supply, demand and where serviced land is actually reaching the market, our Australian construction industry trends guide tracks the data as it lands.

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Last updated: 19 October 2026

General Information Only: This article is intended for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal or financial advice. The Good Builder is not a law firm or a licensed financial adviser. Readers should seek appropriate professional guidance before acting on any information contained herein.

Author: TGB Editorial