Jane Brook moved from Melbourne to Gisborne South for the country feel of the Macedon Ranges, but she fears big-city life has followed her.

"[I feel] terror and sadness and maybe we'll just have to move," she said.

Despite living just 10 kilometres from Gisborne's town centre, Ms Brook has started doing her food shopping in Melbourne, a 40-minute drive away.

"It's bumper to bumper [in Gisborne]."

Ms Brook has seen the Macedon Ranges town boom with new arrivals since she moved.

She is unconvinced her local council has the expertise to manage the fast-paced growth around Gisborne.

The Macedon Ranges Shire Council this week endorsed its Gisborne Futures Draft Structure Plan which puts a protective town boundary around the town.

It has been a divisive and difficult process for council and residents alike.

"The feedback is as diverse as you can imagine," councillor Christine Walker said.

"On one side we have somebody who wants this, then somebody who wants the exact opposite."

Major housing development kept out of town

Developer Max Shifman had his own vision for Gisborne: a 1,400-lot development on about 80 hectares (200 acres), located between Gisborne and Riddells Creek.

"We're in a housing crisis," he said.

"We're talking about creating greater diversity of housing, including more compact options for people downsizing or trying to get into the market."

But the council's plan for Gisborne's development excluded the proposed development, dubbed "Glen Junor", from the town's proposed boundary.

That means the development could go ahead, but under zoning rules the lots would be restricted to about 60 one-acre blocks.

"It's going to be housing," Mr Shifman said.

The Intrapac chief executive sees two clear options.

"It can either be really expensive housing for 60-odd people on large lots. 

"Or we can turn it into a brand-new community which caters for the future growth of Gisborne properly."

Council says development is in wrong location

When promoting the plan, Mr Shifman called Macedon Ranges Shire councillors "incompetent".

"It's going to mean a worse quality of life for people in Gisborne," he said.

Rob Hall, whose property backs onto the land of the proposed Glen Junor development, has lived in Gisborne for 20 years.

He said change is inevitable and Glen Junor could be a positive development, if handled properly.

"As long as the infrastructure keeps up, that's the main thing," he said.

Mayor Annette Death says the Glen Junor site does not connect to the town centre.

"The focus is moving north of Gisborne, where we have the topography, the train station, and an education precinct that we can utilise and build on, to get a vibrant, wonderful new community," she said.

The council will now write to the Minister for Planning to request an amendment to the town boundary, following community consultation.

Developer Intrapac has indicated it will also take its project to the Planning Minister to seek state government intervention.

Apartments to be built in New Gisborne

Gisborne has a population of 14,200 in 2021, with that expected to grow to 27,000 by 2050, according to the draft Gisborne Futures Structure Plan.

There are already two new housing estates in Gisborne and two in New Gisborne, both with hundreds of new lots.

The Macedon Shire Ranges Council's plan includes plans for apartments near the train station in New Gisborne.

"Apartments are very popular with older people and younger people ... people do want to live in the country, and they do want to live in apartments," Cr Walker said.

Professor Andrew Butt, a sustainability and urban planning researcher from the RMIT Centre for Urban Research, believes that is the right approach.

"We're going to increasingly see the need for small regional cities, particularly around Melbourne.

"They are really going to have to change the housing form they have."