BENDIGO MP Lisa Chesters has pushed again for "urgent" Bendigo Airport funding, with a hope terminal upgrades would help increase the region's tourism.
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The City of Greater Bendigo has lodged an application with town planners for a new terminal that could see a nine-fold surge in passengers by 2030.
The application states the new terminal would have the capacity to have up to 242,500 people through every year by the end of the decade, up from 26,500 now.
The project would require about $10 million in total funding.
Council, Ms Chesters and opposition infrastructure, transport and regional development minister and Ballarat MP Catherine King met on Tuesday to discuss the project.
"This initiative has been great and it can grow and be part of our recovery from COVID-19 if we could just get Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the federal government on board," Ms Chesters said.
Ms King backed the City of Greater Bendigo's plans to upgrade the terminal.
"This is a really important project, not only for Bendigo, but for the region," she said.
"We've all been in awe of the way this airport has developed from a small, regional airport to a centre that now has daily flights, when we're not in lockdown, to Sydney and has seen an increase in passengers flying in for tourism purposes.
"It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing that we're now on the cusp of another election and nothing has been done in the meantime.
"It shouldn't take an election campaign to get this funding. It makes good economic sense for Bendigo and regional development in the state of Victoria."
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Bendigo mayor Jennifer Alden said if state and federal governments agreed to put in $4.5 million each, council would allocate the remaining $1 million to start the project.
The project was left out of the 2021-22 federal budget earlier this year.
"There's been advocacy done by our council and more recently in Canberra, and we've had an application in to the federal government for the remainder of the funding needed to progress with the project to the scale that we need multiple times," Cr Alden said.
"We've had really positive growth in the use of this facility and it's certainly resonated with regional Victoria.
"We are a regional tourism destination and for that purpose, it's going to have an enormous economic benefit if we can get this project done."
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