7.42pm: Discussion has shifted to the Draft Greater Bendigo Heritage Collection Policy.

"It is easy to collect a lot of things if you don't have a guiding policy," Cr Emond says.

The historic period encompassed by the policy is the 1830s to the present. 

Councillors have supported the recommendation.

7.34pm: "Let me eat cake," Councillor Fyffe says on his birthday. The council is discussing the healthy food and catering policy, which would promote healthy food and drink in council workplaces.

Cr Fyffe might have been being flippant before, but he is now stressing the need for moderation and responsible dietary decisions.

There has been some discussion about making chocolate driven fundraisers taboo in the workplace. 

Seems councillors are enjoying the opportunity to discuss food, along with the serious elements of the discussion.

Oh dear. It appears Cr Fyffe wasn't kidding - he and Cr Williams voted against the policy. All others were in favour.

7.28pm: The City of Greater Bendigo will request the Minister for Planning appoint an Independent Panel to consider an unresolved opposing submission to subdivide the Rocklea Mill Site at Kangaroo Flat.

One of the five submissions the council has received is an objection to the proposal to divide the land into 46 industrial lots, claiming the site would be overdeveloped and have a negative impact.

The other four submissions are supportive of the proposal, subject to the conditions that would be included in a draft planning permit.

7.18pm: Council has moved on to the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme Review, namely to adoption of the draft report.

It's one of a number of strategies and policies coming before the council this evening. 

7.15pm: Cr Pethybridge doesn't think the developers will be removing many trees at all and still supports the motion.

Councillors Emond, Fyffe, Pethybridge, Williams, Wrigglesworth and O'Rourke voted in support of the recommendation.

Councillors Alden and Metcalf opposed the recommendation.

Harveys Lane residents had urged the council not to approve the development plan in its current state.

Read more about it here.

7.09pm: Cr Jennifer Alden said areas of vegetation has been preserved in other suburbs due to the efforts of community groups.

"We're seeing less of this process nowadays," she said.

"Yield is often the main consideration of most developments these days."

What doesn't change despite two assessments being made is if the mature Ironbarks then could attract birds such as the Swift Parrot, Cr Alden said it stood to reason to believe they still did.

"I believe the development could be substantially improved, therefore I cannot support the development in its current form," she said.

6.56pm: The proposal for a 72-lot subdivision at Harveys Lane, Jackass Flat is up next. Cr Pethybridge is speaking to the proposal, which councillors have been recommended to approve for a development plan.

He said the property in question came well within the zone where these sort of developments could take place.

Cr Pethybridge says some trees will be retained as part of the proposal before the council. He is running through the report to councillors.

He says the developers have 'tried to do their best' to maintain trees within two reserves included in the plan and will support the proposal.

Cr Williams says the structure plans were established in 2007 to indicate it was an area to be further developed as part of the residential strategy. The plan was amended in 2009.

"It's always difficult. As Councillor Pethybridge said the residential boundary has been set," he said.

He was pleased reserves had been incorporated where the majority of the large trees were located on the block.

Cr Williams said Harveys Lane was 'a picture' and that he understood the residents' desire to retain the vegetation.

But he said it had been flagged this quite clearly would be a residential area, and compromises had to be made.

Cr Metcalf says the planning history of the Jackass Flat neighbourhood made for interesting reading.

She says a shift in the significance rating given to the vegetation was the 'game changer' for Jackass Flat.

Vegetation quality was earlier said to be high to very high, and later assessed as lower value.

Cr Metcalf says the report to councillors noted confusion about the value of the vegetation, and did not believe that to be the fault of the residents but rather that of the process.

She will not be supporting the recommendation.

Cr Alden is now speaking to the recommendation.

6.48pm: A proposal to use 131 Victoria Street, Eaglehawk, for steel fabrication and to reduce car parking requirements is now up for discussion. Councillors have been recommended to grant a permit.

Cr Metcalf is supportive of the recommendation. Cr Williams says the 25 conditions recommended as part of the permit go a long way to addressing the concerns of nearby residents who have raised concerns about the applicant, McKern Steel, expanding from the adjoining site into 131 Victoria Street.

Six objections were received.

"I think it will give them a better condition than they experienced previously," Cr Williams said of the conditions.

Cr Emond says it's also important to remember it's an interesting policy clash between industrial and residential land which highlighted the need to solve the city's industrial land shortage.

He said McKern Steel had been an industrial site since the 1970s, with residential properties being constructed around it.

Cr Malcolm Pethybridge believed the applicant was doing all possible to address the residents' concerns.

Councillors have moved in support of the recommendation.

6.35pm: Council has been recommended to refuse an application for a permit for the use of land at One Eye Forest Road in Heathcote for use and development of land for a dwelling, shed and tourist group accommodation consisting of six huts.

Cr Yvonne Wrigglesworth is speaking to the proposal. She says the site poses a significant bushfire risk, which is the grounds for the council staff's recommendation to refuse to grant the permit.

The applicant has proposed a plan for emergency management, but DELWP has advised a new road would have to be created to enable access to the site.

Cr Wrigglesworth said it was also unclear whether there would be permanent staff on site during the fire danger period to enable the implementation of the plan.

"This proposal is considered to be an inappropriate planning outcome," she says.

"I fully support the planning officer's recommendation."

Cr Metcalf is also in agreement with the planning officer's conclusion the proposal is an inappropriate planning outcome.

Cr James Williams says the fact is the land is in the middle of a state park. To provide greater access could pose a risk of negatively affecting the biodiversity of the park.

Council has voted in support of the recommendation.

6.26pm: We're up to petitions. Council is discussing Wolstencroft Reserve - namely, a petition calling on the council to inform them of the engagement process for the development of the master plan including the formulation of a community reference group.

Cr Yvonne Wrigglesworth said the Wolstencroft Reserve Action Group should be commended for maintaining work on the issue, including a survey. 

Results of the survey were presented to the council in December. Cr Wrigglesworth said they would be considered as part of the development of a master plan and encouraged as many residents as possible to follow the process. 

It has been almost a year since the council engaged with the community on the project. 

6.21pm: Reports to councillors. Cr Fyffe is providing his report. He sounds like he's had a busy month, from the Zonta Club of Bendigo's International Women's Day Dinner and the Gender Equity Forum to the Zinda Festival.

6.14pm: Council is taking questions from the public gallery. We've had a query on road maintenance, to which the mayor encouraged people to take opportunities to bring areas where there are perceived issues to the council's attention ahead of monthly meetings. She thanked the questioner for their query and for highlighting the condition of the road of concern to them.

Council is also fielding a query about the construction of dwellings near mine shafts. The questioner seems to believe the process could be streamlined. Council said the process was largely dependent on the proposal.

The need for a footpath from Eaglehawk Secondary College to the end of the subdivision at Jobs Gully Road was raised. Cr Andrea Metcalf says the issue is known to her and a request has been submitted for it to be looked at by the council.

6.10pm: Today is Councillor Fyffe's 70^th birthday. Congratulations to Cr Fyffe were included in the community section of the meeting, along with congratulations to Aunty Lyn Warren, who was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women on International Women's Day, and to our firefighters following the State Urban Championships in Bendigo at the long weekend.

The council also offered its condolences to the family of George Ellis, who passed earlier this month at the age of 90.

6.02pm: This month's meeting started with a minute's silence in solidarity with Christchurch following Friday's terror attack.

Bendigo mayor Cr Margaret O'Rourke said what occurred was a senseless and horrific act of terror inflicted on the city of Christchurch and its Muslim community. 

"This week's Zinda Festival and its many events could not have come at a more appropriate time," she said.

She said the more the message of solidarity was shared around the world, the more people would learn.

"We must encourage kindesss, inclusion and compassion at times like this," Cr O'Rourke said.

She thanked residents for the support they had offered each other in the wake of the attack.

The Australian flag on the Bendigo Town Hall has been lowered to half-mast in support of our neighbours 'across the ditch'.

Cr O'Rourke said people needed only to look at the flag at the town hall to know they were supported.

6pm: Welcome to the live blog of the City of Greater Bendigo council meeting for March, 2019.

We've got a 167-page agenda ahead of us this evening. 

In the gallery are a few residents of Harveys Lane, Jackass Flat, who have urged the council not to approve a development plan for a 72-lot subdivision as it stands. They believe more could be done to preserve vegetation and address traffic concerns. 

Full council agenda for March 2019:

An historical artefacts plan, and plans for Wolstencroft Reserve are also among the likely discussion points.

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