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From permanent developments like Chancery Lane to temporary events like the Moonlight Market – the push is on to breath fresh life into Bendigo’s CBD.
Now, residents are being invited to attend a community discussion about how best public and unused spaces can be re-used or revitalised.
City Planning and Development director Prue Mansfield said everything from old churches to gardens, lane ways to car parks could be transformed, either for a once-off event or forever.
“There are so many ways businesses and the community can come together to activate our fantastic city through festivals, events, creative projects and art,” Ms Mansfield said.
“The highly successful Moonlight Market held in the Hargreaves Mall on Saturday is an excellent example of how to successfully activate an area of central Bendigo.”
The key-note speaker for the discussion will be Marcus Westbury, best known for his involvement in the Renew Newcastle project where he filled vacant shopfronts with pop-up businesses and artists.
He may also be known to viewers of the TV show Bespoke, which highlighted the growth in small-scale manufacturing and the opportunities that are available to makers these days.
Year-10 students form Catholic College Bendigo will speak about their school project which required them to investigate what is needed to change perceptions of the Hargreaves Mall.
Ms Mansfield said the discussion would also be an opportunity to test ideas such as the Splash Adelaide initiative, where the City of Adelaide partners and co-creates with the community to make otherwise underutilised public spaces vibrant and attractive.
“It is a great way to trial new ideas and see what works and what doesn’t, and visitors and the community get to experience something new,” she said.
Places for Change is an Outside the Square discussion, hosted by the City of Greater Bendigo and Make a Change Australia, and will be held on Thursday October 15 at 7pm at the The Old Church on the Hill in Quarry Hill.
Which places in Bendigo do you think are most in need of a new lease on life?
Send your ideas through to joseph.hinchliffe@fairfaxmedia.com.au or share them via them with us via social media.