Councillors will consider releasing a draft report outlining the city’s transformational agenda at a council meeting on Wednesday evening. 

The report, titled Plan Greater Bendigo, is said to detail 70 infrastructure projects that could support an expected city population of 200,000 by 2050.

Government agencies, council staff, other regional councils and stakeholders have already developed proposals for projects, which residents are being asked to decide on during an open consultation period. 

If councillors release the draft report on Wednesday night, locals will have six weeks, until April 28, to provide initial feedback.

City of Greater Bendigo Strategic Planner Projects, Bridgette Maplestone, said the aim would be to refine 70 projects down to 15. 

Ratepayers will be asked to rank their preferred projects from one to five via an online or hard copy survey, and suggest other projects that may have been missed. 

“It (consultation period) is about getting the balance right – we want to have it open for long enough to give adequate feedback, but we don’t want to leave it open for too long so people forget about it (the project),” Ms Maplestone said. 

The City of Greater Bendigo has penciled in a further six-week public consultation period in September-October.  

“We’ll see how it goes and we can assess it for the next stage. We want to make sure we are engaging everyone,” she said.

The plan is structured around six key themes – Transport that builds connections; A fairer, inclusive, safer and healthier community; Becoming more environmentally resilient; Working towards a smarter city; Building 10 minute neighbourhoods; and Growing jobs, tourism and investment.

The final plan will be prepared by January 2018.