The council should listen to the overall community and not destroy the trust and respect between them and the people they represent. In a survey conducted by Maree Edwards, 82.5 per cent of Kangaroo Flat ratepayers showed they are against council’s present decision to demolish.

I believe the council is  being very foolish and also insulting to the dedicated people who provided this purpose built facility for Kangaroo Flat. It took 30 years of lobbying and fundraising to get the leisure centre built and now the council without due diligence and reference to the user groups have decided to bulldoze it.

The new aquatic centre and the leisure centre are equal in the majority of ratepayers’ vision for the future and one should not destroy the other. The alternative site for the pool is superior to the present schematic drawings with which council is using to seek funding and management rights to cover the costs of the project which also includes the demolition costs for the leisure centre.

I seek councillors to restore some of the trust and respect of the community by fulfilling their moral obligations, particularly Councillors Lyons and Fyffe, by rescinding the all encompassing motion and replacing it with a separate motion to build the pool on currently unoccupied space.

There appears two contradictory positions on Greater Bendigo’s economic development.

An August 3 Bendigo Advertiser article, “Bendigo’s economic growth positive”, reported that National Bank’s Tom Taylor told 120 local business people “What is being done here to plan economic growth and development is being done well”.

Council chief executive officer Craig Niemann chimed in, saying “It was good to have an independent view from outside to say we are doing well economically”.

In the background council’s costly $17.5 million City Futures Directorate boasts it is “the economic development and jobs growth machinery … linking economic development and jobs growth with major infrastructure development and creative pursuits in arts and culture … is successful, delivering excellent outcomes”.

No doubt Tom and Craig are fine fellows intending to encourage Bendigo, but did they read Bendigo’s real economic profile, or listen to City Futures spin? All is not going well; outcomes are not “excellent”. I wish it was otherwise.  

A September 21 Bendigo Advertiser article revealed since December last year “Bendigo loses 4,500 jobs”.

A government publication, “Overview of the Bendigo labour market, September 2015”, disclosed Bendigo’s unemployment rate was 11.6 per cent (12.5 per cent for Cal Gully/Eaglehawk), with 35 per cent of youth not studying or completing a Certificate III or higher - well above the Victorian average (26 per cent).  

Pre-2006 to 2014 data on council’s own website show important economic trend-lines flat or slowing, despite council’s extra millions, marketing spin, and “vibe”. Go to http://economy.id.com.au/bendigo and judge for yourself.

From 2007, gross regional product decelerated (outside significant hospital-build). Job growth slackened. Unemployment higher; particularly bad for youth. The hyped “arts and culture” economic push failed to attract businesses or create new long-term jobs. Less employed in arts than in 2006. Tourism mauled; sales, value-adding, and employment not regaining pre-2006 momentum. Bendigo-Loddon overnight stays 2 million in 2000; 1.6 million in 2014.

Investment decisions are made without all facts being openly discussed. The employment situation is not good enough. Council’s present economic strategy is a picturesque catalogue without accountable action plans. It’s time councillors and the CEO took a different approach. Upgrade the economic development unit to include tourism and major events units’ staff, and re-task their work and $8 million budget to serve all 19 industry sectors.

Residents want their dollars to lead to increased productivity, better quality economic outcomes and improved employment. 

I recognise council does some things well, but its economic performance must improve.