The council has released a plan to transform a total of about 300 hectares of land from farms into two new residential areas, located to the city’s north-west and south.

Mayor Ken Clarke said it would allow for up to 2285 new homes. “This is a significant step forward in freeing up enough land for Wangaratta’s growth over at least the next 15 years” he said.

“Achieving growth in Wangaratta is a major priority for this council and this proposed amendment ensures growth will happen in a well-planned, environmentally sustainable way.

“It will facilitate the changes required to ensure the right planning scheme controls are in place and allow for a smooth transition to a new residential area.”

Meanwhile at Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors adopted the 2017 Wangaratta Industrial Land Use Strategy, which set a plan for the future of 342 hectares of land north and south of the city.

One of six submissions received did not support an idea to relocate Wangaratta Abattoirs from Greta Road.

Deputy mayor Harvey Benton said the facility should be central to any discussions about the city’s industrial future.

“Facilities to process animals are becoming very scarce and the regulations are becoming so demanding that there’s nearly a closure every couple of months of abattoirs on the eastern seaboard. We’ve got an abattoirs there that is able to process quite a lot of stock that is on a small basis and if we still want to make sure that we’re able to become the tourist gourmet region, it’s one facility that we’ve got to make sure doesn’t have anymore implements,” he said.