The City of Greater Bendigo made a submission to Infrastructure Victoria’s All things considered options paper, which will inform a 30-year statewide infrastructure strategy. 

Council supported many of the more than 200 ideas included in the document, but there were some it was enthusiastically for and others it was decidedly against.

Council called for a stronger focus on infrastructure in regional cities in the strategy. 

“The options paper currently groups all local governments as if they are a single entity,” council wrote.

“Further discussion and distinction on the roles of local government in rural, regional, peri-urban and metropolitan settings would be welcomed and this should be considered when determining infrastructure priorities.”

The Loddon Mallee South Regional Growth Plan aims for Bendigo’s population to reach 200,000 by 2041.

The current population is about 110,000 people. Council said a growth rate of about 3 percent would be required to reach the goal, “substantially higher than the current annual growth rate of 1.6 per cent.”

Council supported an option for employment outside central city incentivisation, which would encourage businesses to locate outside of the central business district. 

At the moment, the strategy is only suggested for metropolitan Melbourne. “This should be expanded to include regional areas,” council wrote.

It was very keen on a suggestion for urban development in established areas. 

“It is council’s policy to provide for 85 per cent of residential growth to occur within the city’s urban growth boundary,” council wrote.

“To do this, however, there will be a need to deliver a greater diversity of housing in existing areas.”

Council said the majority of housing in the municipality was in the form of dwellings with three or more bedrooms.

“With comparatively low land values in regional areas, there is little incentive to be innovative in the type of dwellings being offered, particularly apartment buildings outside of the city centre,” the submission reads.

“This is a different problem than is experienced in metropolitan areas and there is little in the options paper that would address the issue in regional cities.”

Council supported an affordable and social housing targeted development option, which would require developers to include affordable housing as a condition of planning approval for new developments. 

“With rising house prices and an increasing population there is mounting pressure on local governments to deliver affordable housing but limited mechanisms to do so,” council wrote.

“The introduction of legislation at a State Government level to either mandate the inclusion of affordable housing or provide support mechanisms for its inclusion would provide greater scope for regional cities to increase the provision of affordable housing.”

About 23 percent of Greater Bendigo do the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity per day. 

Council said the proportion of obesity in males was the highest in the state, at 31 percent.

“There are significant inroads that needs to be made in terms of improving the health of the population,” it wrote.

Council strongly supported a suggestion to alter road, bike and walkway infrastructure to separate bicycle and pedestrian usage, and welcomed an option to expand cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

Council was also for a suggested preventative public health education program targeted at residents aged 15 – 25 years old. 

The message would be delivered through school programs and targeted advertising campaigns. 

“[Council] is already committed to improving active travel through schools,” the submission read. 

Council was strongly against a proposed landfill waste levy increase and an option that would change household waste disposal fees from fixed to a variable charge based on the amount of waste generated by a household. 

“This would be better dealt with by an educational and promotional campaign in the first instance to try to enact behaviour change,” council wrote.

Council was strongly against a proposed centralised planning scheme.

The option would transfer decision-making on planning and infrastructure co-ordination from relevant Local Government Authorities to a central authority, such as the proposed Victorian Planning Authority.

“The city has been proactive and strategic in its planning scheme amendments and is best placed to determine the needs of the community,” council wrote.

“The existing planning controls, if used correctly, should provide adequate certainty to all parties.”

Council also raised a concern that a centralised planning scheme would diminish the vibe of regional communities.

“One of the key factors in people choosing to relocate to regional centres is the distinct character and identity of those centres compared to the suburbs of Melbourne,” it wrote.

“A centralised planning scheme could result in the loss of that point of difference.”

Council suggested the addition of the Bendigo Metro Rail Project; more climate change mitigation measures; education, training and employment opportunities; and heritage options.

It also called for water management options and infrastructure capacity assessments to gauge council’s ability to meet the basic needs of 200,000 people.