Overview
Nestled on the banks of the Campaspe River, the area around Rochester was originally known as 'Yalooka'. Sitting on the floodway, Rochester is an agricultural community centred around dairying, tomato growing and meat production.
In recent history, the Rochester Silo Art, Mural Festival and Sports Museum, have made Rochester a haven for tourists, who enjoy the many cafes, hotels and holiday parks during their stay.
Rochester boasts a hospital, supermarket, primary and secondary school, many recreation facilities and streets of thriving small businesses.
Place Based Planning
Place Based Plans focus on making places better. The process involves looking at, listening to, and engaging with community members who live, work and play in a particular place (from a street to an entire town) to understand their needs and aspirations. Ultimately, what do you want your town to look like, to feel like?
The Rochester Place Base Plan was developed through a wide-ranging consultation process where over 900 residents provided input.
Rochester Place Based Plan was endorsed at the March 2024 Council meeting.
To view the Place Based Plan, click here(PDF, 5MB).
The Rochester Place Based Plan identified the following vision:
“Rochester is a thriving community, growing in a sustainable way. Great lifestyle. Strong community. Invest with confidence. All are welcome.”
The next steps will be Council engaging with the community to implement this plan.
Township Facility Planning
Township Facility Planning looks at the future of the town's assets and identifies whether a facility should be renewed, upgraded, repurposed or retired.
Rochester is yet to start Township Facility Planning.