Reporter Joseph Hinchliffe will be tweeting and posting a live video on Periscope of the council meeting from 6pm. Follow him on @joe_hinchliffe or watch the live stream here.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is an important night for the Greater Bendigo City Council with a number of big ticket items on tonight’s agenda, including rolling out organic waste pick up across the city, endorsing a plan which will lay the ground rules for housing development for the short- to medium-term future, creating a citizens’ jury and much more.
Related:
9.20pm: That’s it for our coverage tonight. More on these items throughout the week.
9.13pm: Citizens’ jury idea supported despite councillors Ruffell and Campbell voting against it.
8.46pm: The item is carried despite councillors Cox, Leach and Chapman voting against it.
8.20pm: Cr Cox gives impassioned speech against green bin proposal before council – a policy he has championed for five years.
“It’s with some disappointment that I have to stand up and speak against this motion,” Cr Cox says.
“This has been going on for five years… and up until about two weeks ago we were talking about fortnightly pick-ups.
“But the recommendation that we have before us is very weak… basically because some people complained about smelly bins.
“They need to take some responsibility… how hard is it to tie up a chook before you put it in a bin?”
Cr Cox critises report for lack of costing into the long term savings of removing organic waste from landfill. He also slams decision to begin implementation while the current council is in caretaker mode, just before the August election.
“And no one around this table discussed our carbon footprint… that was raised by residents.”
8.08pm: Cr Lyons says this fortnightly pick-up will address the problem of landfills which are quickly filling.
“This is probably the biggest and boldest change in waste collection in my time on council,” the veteran councillor says.
8.06pm: Onto organic waste pick-up.
8.05pm: Outdoor dining changes carried with only councillors Leach and Chapman voting against.
7.52pm: Councillors Lyons and Ruffell, who both have been long-standing small business operators, speak in favour of the motion.
“Small business is crying out for support on this,” Cr Ruffell says.
“Some areas are paying up to $24,000 [to meet] outdoor dining [regulations].”
7.50pm: Speaking to the Bendigo Advertiser earlier today, Bendigo Business Council chief executive Leah Sertori said the current regulation around outdoor dining needed reform.
“It is a huge investment for people, tens of thousands of dollars to comply with regulation,” she said.
“We would welcome council’s support for pop-up, on-street dining and we recognise the tremendous opportunity for local hospitality businesses to leverage off large exhibitions like Marilyn and we welcome council’s flexibility in embracing the notion of pop-up on dining permits.”
7.45pm: Item carried unanimously onto plans to change outdoor dining regulation.
7.38pm:
Onto Greater Bendigo Municipal Early Years Plan – Creating the Best Future for our Children (2015 to 2018).
7.34pm: Only Cr Leach votes against the motion, the Greater Bendigo Residential Strategy is endorsed by council and will now go to the minister for final approval.
7.30pm:
All councillors have mention Bendigo Gold Club plans but only Cr Leach speaks in favour of including the Eaglehawk Golf Club in the UGB.
7.20pm:
7.15pm:
Cr Leach says decision to not include Eaglehawk Golf Club in UGB will cost Bendigo “world class golfing facilities”.
“I understand the need for a ‘compact Bendigo’, I don’t want it to sprawl all the way to Castlemaine,” she says.
But Cr Leach dubs the scheme ‘Plan Melbourne’ saying it will make it hard for ‘mum and dad investors’ to buy a home.
7.10pm: Cr Lyons says he understands the Bendigo Golf Club and the Balgownie Estate’s desire to be included in the urban growth boundary.
“But neither would be sensible plannings at this stage,” he says.
“Both should be included as part of the larger area – but not at this stage.
“So we are sending a signal that you’re next.”
Cr Lyons says more time is needed for planning as the developments will affect homeowners for decades to come.
“We need to get it right today.”
7.05pm:
“This is probably the first council to say to itself: ‘we are going to change directions,’” Cr Cox says.
“It is about a compact city rather than a sprawling city and if we are going to believe in that.”
7pm: Onto the Greater Bendigo Residential Strategy.
6.59pm: Item carried unanimously.
6.50pm: Onto the Animal Industries Advisory Committee Discussion Paper.
6.47pm: Councillors vote unanimously against Maiden Gully subdivision with little discussion.
Cr Lyons says “even” he is against it.
“And I’m normally for development,” he says.
6.45pm:
Councillors vote unanimously in favour of the Sedgwick farm proposal.
6.42pm: “In future, I believe you won’t even see the shed [for the trees],” Cr Chapman said.
Cr Chapman says use of solar panels, native fruits make for a “really sustainable little plan” for the property.
6.41pm: Councillors Chapman and Campbell speak against the officer’s recommendation and in favour of the application to develop a farm on Sedgwick Rd.
6.40pm: Item carried, the Kirkwood Rd application is approved.
6.38pm: Cr Cox responds to “confusion” of his colleagues – “It’s quite simple,” he says, it is about heritage overlays.
6.35pm:
6.30pm: Onto the propsal by 66 Kirkwood Rd, Eaglehawk.
“These are new times for Eaglehawk, we don’t have a lot of this sort of design home in the area this is the secod development ovelooking the lake,” Cr Cox says.
“We are going to see more and more of these applications, particularly overlooking waterways – that’s a sign of development.”
6.27pm: Item is carried despite comments of the four councillors – application by the property owners of 42 Milroy St to construct second dwelling on a lot, subdivide land into 2 lots, construct front fence, construction of vehicle crossover and retrospective construction of carport and partial front fence demolition is rejected.
6.25pm: Councillors Helen Leach, Barry Lyons, Mark Weragoda and Elise Chapman speak in favour of the development – and against the city’s recommendation.
“I think we are confusing developers,” Cr Leach says.
“I thought we wanted smaller, infill developments.”
6.21pm: Cr Rod Campbell agrees with Cr Cox, despite noting past developments in the area have against its heritage nature.
“I do hold heritage seriously, I do think this city benefits from protecting its heritage… even if it’s not always pure,” Cr Campbell said.
“Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
6.20pm: “Tonight is a very complex night for council business, this [item] and the next one, you might think they contradict one another,” Cr Cox says.
“What’s different about this one is that it is also in a heritage overlay… on balance what we are saying is that it is an unacceptable design in a heritage area.”
6.18pm: The first of several development applications is the first item on the agenda, in a night which councillors will be asked to vote on a future residential plan which promotes infill development, and yet which officers are recommending the rejection of all but one subdivision proposal.
6.10pm: Fourth and fifth questions relate to “rumours” surrounding Cr Peter Cox involvement in a company which will take over the role of the Future Employment Opportunities, which was liquidated last month.
Cr Cox responds saying: “What I can confirm is that there is no company taking operation at this point in time and if there was such a in future that would be a matter of councillors… and I would not be involved in that decision.”
6.08pm: Third question from public on Hopley Recycling and Greenaway Waste, which will be on the agenda latter tonight.
6.06pm: First two questions from public on the organic waste pick up, one of the big ticket items on the agenda tonight.