GREATER Bendigo councillors have supported a plan to close part of Havlin Street East to traffic.
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A planning report recommended the council close the street adjoining Wolstencroft Reserve between Rodney Street and 65 Havlin Street East.
The closure would be part of stage two of the redevelopment of Wolstencroft Reserve.
The council received 60 submissions about the closure, with 31 submissions opposing the proposal.
Of the 31 submissions, 19 supported road calming treatments.
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Cr George Flack initially put forward a motion at Wednesday night's council meeting to keep Havlin Street East open to traffic, citing the objections from the community.
That motion was defeated, with Cr Jennifer Alden noting the community had been surveyed several times over the years with the majority of respondents supporting the road closure.
Another motion to support the planning report recommendation and close part of Havlin Street East was carried, with only Cr Andrea Metcalf, Cr Matt Emond, and Cr Flack voting against the motion.
The carried motion stipulated there would be traffic calming measures in Havlin Street East in the six months leading up to the road closure.
There would also be traffic calming in adjacent streets once Havlin Street East was closed.
Cr Williams said the road closure would improve the safety of the area.
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"This is a great opportunity to demonstrate that we can provide safe separate playing and cycling areas that children can access from all over Bendigo and not have to interact with traffic," he said.
"Some might say it's an inconvenience, but it's not all about cars. What this means for me is that we will provide a safe, fantastic playground that can be accessed down the Back Creek Trail from a much broader region."
But Cr Emond said there needed to be further community consultation before a decision was made.
"While road safety is absolutely vital to children, the reality is there are a lot of playgrounds in Bendigo that are situated near roads," he said.
"If we are contemplating putting a playground close to a road then I would be questioning the appropriateness of that. But it is a large space and it can be adapted and be reapplied.
"I totally agree that the work at the Wolstencroft is important. But I'm not convinced that at this point I can support this motion based on the community response."
The Greater Bendigo councillors carried the motion despite the objections.