The committee members will be joined by chief executive officers from the six councils in the Loddon Campaspe region – encompassing the City of Greater Bendigo and Loddon, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Mount Alexander and Macedon Ranges shires – Regional Development Australia representatives and senior Victorian government officials.

The group will be tasked with improving productivity, infrastructure and job creation, boosting growth in local agriculture, food processing and other local industries, and improving health and education outcomes throughout the region.

Bendigo-based management consultant Nigel McGuckian will chair the partnership, with Bendigo Bank chief customer officer Marnie Baker as deputy.

Mr McGuckian said the committee members represented a good mix of community-minded people, who would be well-placed to respond to the issues facing the region.

“We’ve got a really good reach and a good million years of [combined] experience,” he said. “What we’ll be doing is in the first instance, in October, spending a lot of time listening to what communities feel is important and then representing that to government in about December. So that’ll hopefully lead to some real emphasis on important projects or important ways that government can do things better.”

Appointees include La Trobe University regional pro vice chancellor Richard Speed, Think Agri managing director Kate Burke, Deakin University regional partnerships manager David Richardson, Bendigo Health acute health executive director Robyn Lindsay, Business Woman of the Year recipient and Jimmy Possum co-founder Margot Spalding, Anglicare Victoria regional director Carolyn Wallace, and Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation CEO Rodney Carter.

Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford described the partnership as a “game-changer”.