Issues as diverse as council rates, concerns about the council's Housing and Community Care program and a lack of rides at this year's Easter Festival were discussed during Wednesday's council meeting.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
All discussions were initiated by members of the public, who flocked to Town Hall to raise their concerns during question time, packing the gallery.
Before the meeting, workers and supporters of the council's Home and Community Care program said they feared the program would be privatised, and positions made redundant.
A carer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she would be "cactus" if she lost her job. "I've got a mortgage and I live on my own, so I'll really be cactus," she said.
But she and other workers said they were most concerned about their clients, many of whom had long running relationships with their carers and wouldn't cope well with a new one.
"It's the distress for the clients, not knowing who will turn up, if anyone will turn up, especially the ones with disabilities who are used to their carers and don't like change," she said.
At the time of print, councillors were conducting a confidential vote on a review of the council's Aged and Disability Services Review. Carers will learn of the fate of the program on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Denita McClure and Jeff Chapman presented council with a 2600-signature petition requesting that rate rises to be tied to the consumer price index.
The pair likened Bendigo council's six per cent rate rises for the next three years to the "unfair" tax levies that led to Bendigo's Red Ribbon Rebellion in 1853.
They presented council the petition on a 100-metre scroll.
"People have made comments to me regarding how council rates are getting too high to bare," Mr Chapman told the Bendigo Advertiser.
The council determined to receive the petition and submit a report on it in two weeks.
Also during question time, a member of the public criticised the council's decision to increase rent for the Tom Flood Sports Centre for this year's Easter festival, which led to the Victorian Showman's Guild to pull out of the event.