Bendigo mayor Barry Lyons said the visit would be a casual meeting held over lunch.

“It’s just one of those social visits,” he said.

“We all had lunch together some time ago and asked if he would like to visit us at some stage.

“It’s just an opportunity for the lord mayor to visit Bendigo and have lunch with a few captains of industry.

“He can share some of his experiences of Melbourne with us and we can ask him a few questions.”

Cr Lyons said the visit would grow contacts between the two councils and strengthen business relationships. 

“We’re a growing regional city,” he said.

“They’re a capital city.

“It’s good to have good relations with the people in charge of their area.

“It’s very pleasing he made the effort to come back to us and make a point of visiting us.”

 Asked if there was much to be learnt from Melbourne, Cr Lyons said the council would soon find out.

“They’ve got lots of things happening in Melbourne,” he said.

“It will be good to get his perspective on things like the East West Link and the controversial things like bike lanes and pedestrian traffic, and what they do with residential growth.”

Cr Lyons said the meeting would take place from midday.