The City of Greater Bendigo will persevere with plans for a Marong industrial park despite an independent panel finding there is insufficient reason to compulsorily acquire land for the project.
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A meeting of the city’s council on Wednesday night will consider recommendations to rezone the area for a business park, applying environmental significance and heritage overlays to the land.
But planning officers also recommend councillors defer a decision on land acquisition, asking the state government for two more years to consider its options.
In March, Planning Panels Victoria supported the council’s application to rezone the land, but said a public acquisition overlay had “insufficient strategic basis".
Twenty-seven responses were received about the proposal from the public, 17 of which were opposed to the development.
Big Hill and Mandurang consideration
The council will also respond to an independent panel’s rejection of a planning amendment that would protect land in Big Hill and Mandurang Valley from development.
The Greater Bendigo council had tried to apply a significant landscape overlay to the stretch of land, but the panel determined in April the proposed amendment was “far too broad”.
The panel’s other findings include concerns about the methodology used and the readability of the study.
The move to protect the land received 53 submissions about the proposal last year, 27 of which were in support of the council initiative.
While the report before the council recommends making the suggested readability improvements, it does not encourage the panel’s other findings be adopted because of a “strong level of community support” to protect Big Hill and Mandurang Valley.
Commercial fitness booking trial
Wednesday’s meeting will also hear calls for Bendigo fitness companies to trial a yearlong booking system for use of public spaces for exercise.
A proposed policy recommends groups with more than five people book their training session with the council.
No commercial fitness activity will be allowed in playgrounds, barbecue facilities or culturally sensitive areas like memorials.
Aggressive or intimidating activities like fight training and amplified music, as well as the sale of merchandise, will be prohibited on council land.
Green waste tender
The council will also be asked to vote on who to award the tender for the collection of green waste across Bendigo and Marong.
Submissions were received from the following tenderers: Ellwaste; Four Seasons Waste; Greenaway Organics Pty Ltd; JJ Richards and Sons Pty Ltd and Wheelie Waste.
Council officers have recommended the tender be awarded to Atona North business, Four Seasons Waste Pty Ltd, for a period of 7 years.
The business has a depot in Golden Square.
Mark Kearney
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
