VICTORIA'S government has opened the expressions of interest process for civil works at Commonwealth Games athletes' village sites, including Bendigo's.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is shaping as one of the first big opportunities for the region's contractors to get stuck into a major games construction project.
Organisers are yet to begin divulging extensive plans for sports venues like Red Energy Arena or the Bendigo Bowls Club, which are both confirmed hosts and may need upgrades to meet the exacting standards of such a high profile event.
Games organisers are also yet to go into fine detail about the Prince of Wales Showgrounds' transformation, though the government has forecast a temporary velodrome and purpose-built table tennis facility.
But multiple sporting bodies are understood to have sent teams to Bendigo on fact-finding missions over the past year as planning continues behind closed doors.
The government has now released two expressions of interest processes for the village expected to rise on idle Osborne Street land in Flora Hill.
The government wants crews for jobs like bulk earthworks, drains and sewers, relocating power, gas and water, road building, remediation and clearing works.
Works at Bendigo's village are expected to get underway later this year but teams are already boring holes as part of early preparations at the site.
That could help construction crews work out exactly where to stick buildings and lay out infrastructure like roads.
Games organisers want about 1200 homes across four sites including Geelong, Ballarat and Morwell.
In Flora Hill, the government has been considering 212 permanent townhouses and 46 apartments, a portion of which could become affordable and public housing to deal with crippling housing shortages.
The rest could be left to the wider housing market, Development Victoria's games villages senior director Kathryn Lord said last week.
"It's still being worked out with Homes Victoria, as far as what proportion that will be," she said.
Civil contractors can apply to be part of all four athletes' village sites.
Interested parties can register via the Buying for Victoria website buyingfor.vic.gov.au, from which a shortlist of contractors will be invited to participate in a request for proposal process.
The EOI closes at 2 pm on Tuesday 28 March.
Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
