What is the Talbot Futures Project?

Integrated planning for Talbot to thrive continues to be a priority for Council.

The planning work - referred to as the Talbot Futures Project - begun in September 2022, with consultant teams commencing work to deliver two key elements of the project.

The goal of the overall project is to establish an overall vision for the future of Talbot that protects the township’s key heritage and character attributes while allowing for a sustainable level of growth and change.

Developing an updated sewerage scheme design is key to enabling this growth and addressing the environmental issues created by unsewered wastewater management.

The two core components of the project are a town structure plan overseen by Council and an updated and fully costed sewerage scheme plan overseen by Central Highlands Water.

The engineering firm Jacobs has been contracted to undertake the technical and costing assessments for the sewerage scheme and this work has already commenced.

Council has recently appointed Hansen Partnership to lead the structure planning side of the project, in association with SGS Economics and Hello City engagement specialists.

Both contracts were awarded following a public tender process.

In September 2021, the Victorian Government (Living Regions Living Suburbs Fund) announced $630,000 that has enabled the commencement of the Structure Plan and Business Case for the project. Council is also contributing $60,000 towards this work.

The project is listed in Council’s Priority Projects Plan for advocacy to Government.