LIVE: Bendigo council meeting, September 2019

8.05pm: Mayor Margaret O'Rourke is providing her report. She's starting with the We are Karen video, a joint council and youth council meeting...

A meeting with chaplain has highlighted issues chaplains are dealing with - issues Cr O'Rourke said had changed with time.

She has welcomed low-interest rate loans for councils, which were announced earlier this month.

The mayor has mentioned Passions and Pathways and its successes.

She has also spoken about being principal for the day at Lightning Reef Primary School, which was her choice of school to lead for the day.

An advocacy visit to Canberra is also part of her report.

With that, she has handed over to chief executive Craig Niemann.

8.02pm: Cr Fyffe is up now. Much like Cr Williams, he's presenting a report not unlike any other council meeting's. He has finished his report without any mention of 'ring girls'.

7.56pm: Cr Emond is starting off with the Bendigo Tourism AGM, which was held at the Bendigo Stadium.

He's talking about the transformation from humble beginnings to a world-class stadium.

Cr Emond has skipped on to the Lockward ward listening post.

In conclusion, he's mentioned a meeting with the Kangaroo Flat RSL sub-branch.

Aside from agreeing with Cr Alden on her quote from the CWA about being kind, and a comment about how a name and shame comment doesn't benefit anyone, Cr Emond has steered clear of discussing 'ring girls'.

7.50pm: Cr Williams has started his report with something other than the 'ring girls' and the boxing, listing a number of other activities.

He's speaking about interactions with the youth council, saying the future was very positive.

Cr Williams has also mentioned the saleyards and road transport.

He has mentioned the boxing, but not the issue of gender equity.

"It was a great night of boxing," Cr Williams said.

7.45pm: Cr Pethybridge said he'd enjoyed the boxing at the event, highlighting the performances by the female boxers. It had been his first opportunity to watch women's boxing.

"We would like to have them back again, I reckon. They just organised it perfectly," Cr Pethybridge said.

"I'd be backing them all the way."

He said councillors were not aware the ring girls were happening. He said he'd like to thank the fella that filled in for the ring girls, during part of the match.

Cr Pethybridge said he was one of the 5000 people in the crowd that did their bit to get the 'ring girls' back, and good on them.

"We didn't get to talk about this until the 11^th of September. The council's got a lot more important things to do. Let's get on with running the city," he said.

7.34pm: That's the business end of the council agenda, done. We've moved on to the councillors' reports, starting with Cr Metcalf. She is using her time to discuss the ring girls.

We've got a copy of her full speech. Cr Pethybridge is speaking now.

7.28pm: We're talking about council finances, now. Cr Fyffe is highlighting points within the report.

Cr Williams is discussing the strengths of the numbers and council's performance. He says our council is doing more with less staff than Ballarat, a comparable regional city.

7.22pm: Council is discussing a procurement policy. It wasn't controversial, and has been carried. An election period policy is now up. No material changes are recommended - the policy, regarding the caretaker period leading up to elections, was up for review.

Council will be in caretaker mode from September 22, 2020 - October 24, 2020.

7.17pm: The Walk, Cycle Greater Bendigo strategy is up now. "I think it's a great strategy," Cr Pethybridge said.

Cr Emond has also emphasised its importance.

He has raised, though, what he believed to be a missing emphasis on pedestrian comfort and safety.

"I think it is a wonderful strategy," Cr Emond said.

Cr Williams believed it was important that the next priority was ensuring paths were linked and joined.

"Ideas, attitudes change. Opportunities change, and sometimes we need to discuss them," Cr Williams said.

Council has endorsed the strategy.

7.14pm: Cr Metcalf said there was a lack of detail about what was proposed, making the proposal difficult to support. She said the amendment was going through a fast-track process, but it was important the community had the opportunity to consider the application. However, she has supported the recommendation, which is for a conditional letter of support for a planning scheme amendment.

The motion has been carried.

7.10pm: Another proposed planning scheme amendment, this time from La Trobe University. Cr Alden said the site contained a heritage building, Eumana. The building was deemed significant, Cr Alden said. Heritage curtilage was recommended. She supported a provisional letter of support.

7.07pm: A proposed planning scheme amendment that would back an upgrade to signalling along part of the rail line in and around Bendigo is up now.

Cr Metcalf raised concerns about vegetation, but Cr Williams said the vast majority of the works were within industrial areas.

Council has supported the proposal.

7.04pm: A proposal to rezone the Rocklea Mill Site in Kangaroo Flat from residential to industrial has come back before council, after going to an independent panel.

Cr Emond was supportive of the recommendation to councillors, which would see the site used for industrial lots.

Cr Alden said she would reluctantly support the recommendation, which she has done. Councillors have voted to support the recommendation.

7pm: On to a planning scheme amendment relating to the Strathfieldsaye Urban Design Framework.

There have been 26 submissions on this, seven of which are supportive. Nineteen of the submissions were in relation to either objections or requests for change. Two of the submissions were late.

Cr Fyffe is running through major concerns raised during the submissions stage, including vegetation, traffic, small lots, commercial land available for future growth, footpaths and water supply.

It has been recommended councillors adopt recommendations directly related to each of the submissions and refer outstanding submissions to the Minister for Planning.

The councillors have opted to take that route.

6.55pm: Cr Williams is wrapping up debate on this topic, saying there was always conflict between heritage and contemporary. He said the city needed to be looking forward, but doing so respectfully.

The council has voted to release the draft strategy, and has emphasised it is keen to hear from residents on the plan.

6.52pm: Cr Emond is also speaking about that balance between contemporary and heritage, that needed to be struck.

"Whilst I'm for us growing as a city... I do think the sorts of development we do, we do need to consider seriously. We don't want poor design outcomes," Cr Emond said.

He reflected on the thought the people responsible for building some of the city's most loved heritage buildings gave before those projects were constructed.

"I do look forward to seeing buildings of a similar passion of a similar design and quality emerge in our city centre," Cr Emond said.

6.51pm: Cr Pethybridge said council would save all the city's heritage buildings, which were known and admired throughout Australia.

Unlike the previous speakers, he did not need an extension of time, true to his word at the start of his address.

Heritage buildings were one talking points emerging from comments in the report to councillors, which indicated a balance needed to be struck between heritage and ensuring the city's growth.

6.47pm: Cr Metcalf has noted that, even though the draft plan hasn't been released, council has already received feedback from the Bendigo Trust.

She has raised questions about how the draft plan fits in with questions she had asked regarding the GovHub deal, when that was up for discussion.

Cr Metcalf said she was looking forward from hearing from residents.

6.43pm: Cr Fyffe is now speaking to the draft city plan. He has reinforced comments made by Cr Williams, who said criticism of plans was easy, He said the council wanted to hear ideas that could make positive change.

"A contemporary city with heritage foundations" - one of the section themes in the report - strikes a chord with Cr Fyffe. He said the city wanted intelligent, flexible and aesthetically-pleasing design.

"The reality is we need high-quality design. If it's not high-quality design, then forget it," Cr Fyffe said.

6.36pm: We're up to the Bendigo City Centre draft plan. Cr Williams says what council has set out to do in its draft plan is acknowledge change will happen and accommodate change in a constructive way.

"It's not wholesale change, it's about actually the city growing and how we facilitate that," Cr Williams said.

He believed Allans Walk and the soon to re-open Beehive Building would change the CBD.

Rosalind Park also came to mind when he spoke about the CBD, Cr Williams said.

"A lot of this isn't just about council," he said after listing a number of projects that wouldn't be council led, including the GovHub.

He said investment in the future of the city shouldn't fall solely to council, emphasising the importance of private investment as well.

He's supportive of the draft plan being released. He's still listing positive aspects of the Bendigo City Centre and changes that have taken place throughout the years.

"A golden opportunity, a golden time for Bendigo," Cr Williams says, ending with a description of the benefits of the gold mine.

6.32pm: There's a petition to reduce the speed limit on Crusoe Road in Kangaroo Flat. Cr Fyffe said it is something the council needed to look at, but noted that it might be something council could only advocate on rather than change itself. Cr Emond noted there were more than 70 signatures seeking to reduce the speed limit by 10 kph. The council has resolved to prepare a response within two meetings.

6.28pm: Cr Alden has taken the opportunity in her report to mention Ms Wrigglesworth's contribution to council and the experiences that informed Cr Alden's own comments about the issues posed by the use of 'ring girls' at a high-profile boxing match. Namely, a masters in women's health and heading up a women's health organisation.

"Yes, we are all different around the council table," Cr Alden said.

But, linking back to a report provided on a CWA function, she reflected on the last line of a CWA statement.

"Let us not forget to be kind."

6.22pm: Cr Alden is providing her report to council, starting with reflections on Norm Quin's contributions to the community.

6.21pm: Colin Carrington has asked whether formal reports have been prepared in relation to benefits associated with international travel some councillors have undertaken.

The mayor said such reports had been compiled and could be provided.

6.19pm: Will Cr Alden and Cr O'Rourke be called up on a code of conduct issue because of their support for comments former Cr Wrigglesworth made about the use of ring girls at a boxing event in Bendigo, a gallery member has asked.

The mayor said no complaints had been made in relation to the code of conduct.

6.18pm: A gentleman in the gallery has asked why the Bendigo council charges a fee for disabled parking. He has raised the point that getting access to a ticket machine can be difficult for a person with disability. Parking for people with disability in Greater Bendigo is charged at the same rate as other parking, but the time limit is extended.

6.17pm: Patti Cotton has put a question to council on whether the council is impacted by the closure of SKM. The mayor said the council was not, and that the city's recycling materials continued to be recycled.

6.10pm: Council has received a number of questions in relation to the 5G network in Bendigo. About 15, I think I heard Cr O'Rourke say.

The question is about how council will adhere to a duty of care without independent testing on long-term adverse effects of 5G.

The mayor is reading out a statement, which she hopes will address many of the questions.

She said there seemed to be a mistaken belief that council planned to roll out a 5G network across the community.

The extent of the council's involvement, by the sounds of things, is that a planning permit would be required for new telecommunications towers to be constructed.

The upgrade of existing towers does not require a planning permit.

6.08pm: Outgoing members of the Bendigo-Maubisse Friendship Committee have just been recognised for their efforts. We're now moving on to public question time.

6.06pm: Council has recognised the achievements of sportspeople in the region, including those playing finals.

It's also given a shout-out to the Elmore Bakery, which was recently recognised with an award.

6.03pm: Council is now recognising former mayor Norm Quin, a much-loved Bendigo resident who died at the age of 85 late last month.

Read more about Mr Quin's contribution to the community, here:

6pm: We're off. Community recognition section of the meeting is just starting, and there are a few items on it this evening. First up is the acknowledgement of Yvonne Wrigglesworth's resignation.

Cr O'Rourke has wished Ms Wrigglesworth and her family well and thanked her for her contributions as a councillor.

5.45pm: THIS will be the Bendigo council's first public meeting since Yvonne Wrigglesworth resigned, following concerns about the use of 'ring girls' at a council-sponsored boxing event last month.

Up for discussion is the draft Bendigo city centre plan, into which we've had the briefest of insights based on the report to councillors in the meeting agenda.

What little we know has already excited controversy with the National Trust Bendigo branch, which has called for the plan's release to be postponed until a separate heritage study is released and finalised.

It will be up to the council tonight to decide whether to release the draft for public comments and submissions.

The council will also decide whether or not to endorse the Walk, Cycle Greater Bendigo Strategy.

Statements on the city's finances and performance will be up for approval, and there's an opportunity for council to lend support to a proposed signalling upgrade for the train lines between Bendigo and Epsom and Bendigo and Eaglehawk.

Here's the meeting agenda:

Watch this space.

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