BENDIGO council has seized a $90 million opportunity provided by the state government to consolidate its offices into a new building, without shouldering the risks or burdens associated with the development.
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The GovHub proposal generated about an hour's discussion at yesterday's council meeting, with councillors keen to explain their stance on what was deemed a momentous decision.
Before the council was a recommendation assessed as the most feasible of seven options investigated by two independent consultants, with additional analysis by the city's staff.
The recommendation was for the council to agree in-principle to the sale of the land upon which its main offices at Lyttleton Terrace stand, making way for the construction of a 1000-desk building.
The city will be a tenant in the building, with up to 400 desks allocated to its staff.
The state government is expected to make use of the other 600 desks, including the creation of 100 new jobs to be based in the GovHub.
Benefits associated with the project are numerous, from injecting millions into the city's economy and bringing workers into the CBD to creating a one-stop-shop for customer service.
"It is city building at its finest, and with the customer at its core," mayor Margaret O'Rourke said.
She was one of six councillors who backed the recommendation.
Both councillors George Flack and Andrea Metcalf voted against the recommendation, and councillor Jennifer Alden abstained from the vote.
The chief concern among the dissenting voices was they would have liked to have had more information before them.
Cr Alden said she was definitely in favour of a GovHub, but believed there were details about the recommended option that had yet to be confirmed.
She also would have liked to have seen further modelling on the course of action preferred by consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, which entailed council striking an agreement with the private sector.
That option would have seen the council retain ownership of the land and the asset revert to the council after 40 years.
City staffers did not deem the option to be financially viable, citing concerns about a high termination payment and inflated economic rent.
Cr Metcalf said she supported the concept of a GovHub, but she believed there had been insufficient information provided to the public and the media about the options available to the council.
Until she was confident all the options had been thoroughly explored, and the community had been transparently informed, she said her answer would be "I'll think about it".
Cr Flack also cited concerns about opportunities for community consultation.
"When it comes down to the bottom line, we are working very, very hard to get the best deal for Bendigo," deputy mayor Rod Fyffe said.
"I think we are voting on the best deal with this motion we have before us."
He was first to speak to the recommendation, citing benefits including increased efficiency and productivity for the council.
Of all the seven options detailed in the report to councillors, included in the meeting agenda, Cr Fyffe said the recommendation was the only one that did not negatively affect the council's finances.
"I think we should seize that with both hands," he said.
Cr Malcolm Pethybridge said he was backing the recommendation all the way, citing maintenance of the existing buildings as one of his motivations.
"The plumbing's not well, the power's not well, it does need a lot of work," he said.
He thanked members of the community for sharing their opinions in the lead-up to tonight's council meeting.
Cr James Williams said Bendigo was presented with a unique opportunity.
He said it had always been recommended the local government look to the state government to help fund new offices.
"We are doing ourselves a disservice by asking our staff to work in these conditions," Cr Williams said of the existing arrangements, with staff spread over seven offices.
He said the state government's offer had made the decision an easy one for him to make.
"The other options put at risk the long-term viability of this council," Cr Williams said.
Cr Yvonne Wrigglesworth could see the parallels between the GovHub proposal and the $630m new Bendigo Hospital Project and the opportunities it had created for the health care group.
"We've got to take the plunge and commit to supporting this option," she said of the GovHub.
"We shouldn't waste any more time."
Cr Matt Emond said the GovHub was not a cookie-cutter approach, addressing comparisons with GovHubs in Ballarat and Morwell.
"What we're dealing with here, our opportunity, is 100 new jobs," he said.
He was supportive of the recommendation.
Cr O'Rourke said the fact the government was willing to take on the GovHub project was a vote of confidence in regional Victoria and Greater Bendigo - and an opportunity unlikely to come around again.
"Yes, council will be paying more rent than it currently does," she said.
But she said the recommended option would save the council the cost of either creating a new office building for its staff, or shouldering the cost of the entire GovHub project.
"It's not a decision that has been taken likely or rushed, in my point-of-view," Cr O'Rourke said.
"Greater Bendigo is the envy of our regional counterparts."
She outlined the state government's spending in the region, totalling $900m in over eight years, not counting the $90m for the GovHub.
Business leaders react
LEADERS in the Bendigo business community are optimistic about the positive influence the GovHub proposal will have on the city's economy.
Be.Bendigo chief executive Dennis Bice said the organisation was strongly supportive of any proposal that brought business into the city centre - one of the expected benefits of basing 1000 staffers in the middle of the Bendigo CBD.
"From a business point-of-view we fully support the GovHub," he said.
Both Be.Bendigo and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank have penned letters to the Bendigo Advertiser about the project.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank managing director Marnie Baker said the investment would be yet another positive step that demonstrated the value of our innovative and growing city.
She said she saw similarities between the bank's experience of developing a large-scale building, co-locating staff previously spread across five buildings.
"In the same way our customers benefited from our investment in the Bendigo Centre, City of Greater Bendigo citizens also stand to benefit from improved customer service and better outcomes for the local economy," Ms Baker wrote.
The scale of the proposed GovHub has previously been compared with the bank's Bendigo Centre by City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann.
Pushback
THE GovHub proposal attracted a number of people to the gallery of tonight's meeting.
Kaylene O'Brien's stance was made clear by her choice of attire.
Written on a white t-shirt in thick, black marker were the capitalised words: 'No Gov Hub'.
Several among those who had concerns about the project took the opportunity to raise queries during public question time.
There were three queries, in total. One person asked how the GovHub would affect the city's finances.
Ms O'Brien asked the sum of the city's debt - $49 million in last budget, as of June 30, according to Cr O'Rourke.
The third query was about how the council has reached the conclusion the GovHub's construction would contribute $131 million to the city's economy.
Gallery members who weren't supportive of the recommendation were nevertheless respectful during the meeting.
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Emma D'Agostino
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
