Reporter William Vallely will be tweeting and posting a live video on Facebook of the council meeting from 6pm. Follow him on @williamvallely or watch the live stream here.
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7.30pm – Moving onto the Hargreaves Mall, which is being looked at as part of the council’s ‘Transforming the City Centre Action Plan’, most councillors are keen to give their five cents on this topic.
Councillor George Flack doesn’t say much, but when he does…
“It’s a dinosaur age invention,” he said.
“Across the world over the past 20 years malls have been demolished.”
Cr Flack also floated a figure of $8.5 million which he suggested might have been spent on the Hargreaves Mall over the “past 10 years or so”.
He said opening up the mall to cars “may prompt the lowering of anti-social behaviour that’s going on at the moment”.
Read more: Would a road work for Hargreaves Mall?
Cr Alden said “everyone has a theory and opinion on the mall – one thing we do know is that parking outside your favourite shop is a vestige of the past. Whatever we do (to the mall) we need a plan – this plan is a step in the right direction”.
Cr Williams said “we don’t set the rent, we don’t own any property in the mall other than that bit in the middle” and that it was “great to see the change that is happening”.
Cr Fyffe, reminiscing about times gone by, said vacancy rates were similar a number of years ago, but the public perception of empty shops wasn’t as negative back then.
“Vacancy rates were seen as giving business the opportunity to expand or new businesses the opportunity to start,” he said.
“The underlying reason why people think the mall isn’t wasn’t what it was is because of the lack of people there – you need to activate it, have events.”
Cr Matt Emond said the Cairns mall was an example of how a space can be reactivated.
6.40pm – Councillors vote 4:3 in favour of a multi-storey residential hotel on Bridge Street.
The development has a number of floors and a total height of 21.86 metres on the Bridge Street side of the building.
Debate centered around the height of the building and its appropriateness to the area.
Cr Jennifer Alden voted against the proposal, noting the building height was five metres above the recommendation in the hospital precinct structure plan.
“It’s a slippery and incremental slope to allow development to go ahead outside of the guidelines. It could set a dangerous precedent and be the first of many applications that go outside the (structure plan) guidelines,” she said.
Cr Andrea Metcalf, also in opposition, said councillors were being asked to vote on a planning application where there was no clear idea of the final design outcome.
Cr Yvonne Wrigglesworth said the demand for hotel of this calibre was high in the city and would boost tourism in the region.
“Yes this new precinct will be very visible. The idea of a green wall condition to ensure its appearance is more pleasant. could be a good one,” she said.
Cr Matt Emond said the development did align with the hospital precinct structure and the design harnessed the city’s Chinese heritage.
“We don’t want to be driving development away from the city. I don’t think this will look at of place at all,” he said.
His thoughts were echoed by Cr James Williams who said the development would grow Bendigo into the future.
6.30pm – Councillors reject a planning application for a baptist church in Hammill Street, Kangaroo Flat following concerns with the use of the land and its location in a bushfire management overlay.
Cr Alden said “urban growth boundaries are there for a reason – this application doesn’t help contain urban sprawl”.
Cr Rod Fyffe said the planned church was also located in a farming zone and didn’t fit with the current use of the land.
No councillors spoke in favour of the development, located close to a state forest.
6.20pm – Bendigo mayor Margaret O’Rourke addresses some social media rumours regarding the money the council spent during their 16-year pursuit of land for a business park, saying the City of Greater Bendigo spent $1.93 million, equating to $120,000 per year.
“Rumours relating to the costs are fundamentally untrue,” she said.
Money spent was used on legal fees, independent studies and consultant reports, she said.
“This is a modest figure given the amount of work undertaken as part of the project over this time. It has included independent investigations of the need for a business park, examining possible sites, economic modelling and environmental studies, which is part of our obligations under the local government act,” she said.
“Most of the planning amendment assessment work for the project was undertaken in-house, as part of staff work plans, which has meant significant cost savings for council.
“These funds were responsibly budgeted for as part of the city’s due diligence for delivering this project over many years.”
Read more:
The COGB voted in favour of the forced sale of a section of the Carter family farm in April, which was rejected by the state government last week.
Full statement below
Mayor Cr Margaret O’Rourke:
Before we start tonight’s meeting, I would like to make some public comments relating to Council’s important work to identify and deliver a business park for Greater Bendigo. This has been a long-term strategic project and key focus of the Loddon Mallee South Regional Growth Plan, and has been driven strongly by support and advocacy from the Loddon, Mount Alexander, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra and Campaspe shires, and the City of Greater Bendigo.
The development of a business park is aimed at creating jobs for future generations and supporting our very successful advanced manufacturing sector.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the decision to apply a Public Acquisition Overlay to the Marong site for the purposes of a business park was one of the hardest decisions this Council has had to make. Compulsory acquisition was absolutely not our preferred option, but we felt as a group, that for the benefit of the Greater Bendigo community and the region it was the right decision to make.
It is disappointing the Minister has not supported our decision, as the State Government had given the green light for this project and rezoned the land last August from Farming to Comprehensive Development. Despite this, the need for industrial land in Greater Bendigo remains urgent and critical, as we only have 10 years’ of industrial land supply left that may never be realised because of where it is located as the city has grown.
Council must now look forward and begin work to find another option to ensure we do not lose businesses and jobs for our growing community. Council will proactively consider its options to ensure a strong future for advanced manufacturing in Greater Bendigo.
Rumours relating to the costs are fundamentally untrue. The City of Greater Bendigo has spent approximately $1.93M in independent studies, legal fees and consultant reports. This equates to roughly $121,000 a year, for the 16 years of the project. These funds were responsibly budgeted for as part of the City’s due diligence for delivering this project over many years.
This is a modest figure given the amount of work undertaken as part of the project over this time. It has included independent investigations of the need for a business park, examining possible sites, economic modelling and environmental studies, which is part of our obligations under the Local Government Act, as well as presentations to the independent panel and associated panel costs.
This is part of Council’s normal strategic planning process, and similar independent studies are routinely undertaken for the development of Township Plans and Structure Plans, for example tonight on the Council agenda is the endorsement of the Greater Bendigo Public Space Plan. All of these activities form part of the work plans for Council staff.
Council’s role in economic development is to be an enabler, to create opportunities for future business development. Some of the work completed so far on the strategy for a business park is still relevant and useful for Council because it is focused on the need for industrial land, irrespective of the Marong site.
Most of the planning amendment assessment work for the project was undertaken in-house, as part of staff work plans, which has meant significant cost savings for Council.
I hope this has been helpful for the community because there have been some outrageous figures bandied about on social media and I think it is important that everyone has the facts.
6pm – Welcome the our live blog of the July 18 council meeting where the plight of a CBD eyesore – the Hargreaves Mall – will be discussed by City of Greater Bendigo councillors.
Also up for discussion is a planning application for a baptist church in Kangaroo Flat and a multi-storey residential hotel on Bridge Street.
Full July 18 council agenda