Construction in central Bendigo will ramp up in 2019, with a raft a key infrastructure projects set to begin in earnest.
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The new $152.4 million Bendigo law courts, which will replace a TAFE building at the corner of Mundy and Hargreaves streets, will start this year and finish in 2022.
The courts will be set over three levels and include eight courtrooms, two hearing rooms and two mediation suites.
It will also become a Specialist Family Violence Court, along with capacity for drug court assessment and referral.
The Labor government said the project will create 450 jobs and 24 ongoing jobs once complete.
Bendigo TAFE City campus redevelopment
Bendigo TAFE is currently working to finalise draft plans of a $59.9 development of its City campus.
The funds, announced in the May state budget, were at the time described as a ‘game-changer’ that will transform the facilities into a modern vocational training centre.
As part of the development, a new G-building will be constructed at the corner of Hargreaves and Chapel streets – the final stage of the overall McCrae Street campus redevelopment.
The project is scheduled for completion in late 2020, making construction highly likely at some stage this year.
Gov Hub?
The state government in May promised $16 million toward to support the development of a ‘Gov Hub’ in Bendigo.
The project will bring 1000 public sector jobs into the heart of central Bendigo, including the creation of 100 new positions, and the increased foot traffic is hoped to revitalise ailing areas of the central business district.
A new building, which will replace the City of Greater Bendigo’s main office on Lyttleton Terrace, will house council staff and public sector workers across various state government departments.
Regional Development Victoria, which will oversee the Gov Hub project in Bendigo, said construction will begin in 2019, with the project slated to finish in 2022 “subject to a range of approvals”.
However, little detail has emerged on the plan since it was announced last year.
The project, expected to cost $100 million, is also reliant on private investment to get it off the ground.
For context, construction of Ballarat’s Gov Hub, which was announced about 18 months earlier than Bendigo’s, will begin this month.
The state government also stumped up more cash – $47 million – for the Ballarat project which is also expected to cost $100 million.
Goornong train station
Further afield, Goornong will be the first of three central Victorian towns to get a new train station as part of a $49.6 million rail project.
Described as the next stage of the Bendigo Metro rail project, construction at Goornong station will start this year and finish in 2021, while the Raywood station will be complete by 2022 and Huntly by 2023.
All new stations will have car parking, covered waiting areas with seating. The government predicts the project will create up to 150 jobs during the construction phase.
They are likely to be similar in appearance to the new station at Epsom.
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