Documents outline new plans for Bendigo's Comm Games village

On its Buying for Victoria website, Development Victoria has sought to appoint a "highly capable and diligent consultant with experience in delivering residential apartment projects with a value of at least $20 million and bespoke townhouses/dwellings".

Documents within the tenders outline the design guidelines for the athletes villages, which will be located at Ballarat, Morwell, Geelong and at 2 Osborne Street, Flora Hill in Bendigo.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES:

The site is expected to house about 1600 athletes and officials and provide housing for the community after the Commonwealth Games.

As part of accessibility guidelines, a new street at the south-western boundary of the site along the athletics track would need to be created, which would link Retreat Road and Cook Street.

A walking and cycling link would need to be created across Retreat Road from the village site to the Spring Gully Trail via Spring Gully Reserve and Adelaide Street.

The design guideline document also specified a need to "consider options for safe access across Retreat Road from Osborne Street".

In terms of streetscape, a developer would be required to "maintain view lines to pre-existing landscapes such as Spring Creek and Greater Bendigo National Park.

Enhancing the environment of the site was another key focus of the documents, including strengthening the site's connection to Spring Gully Creek, the Greater Bendigo National Park and La Trobe University campus.

A 30 per cent tree canopy cover is required at each athletes' village site, and in Bendigo developers have been tasked to "celebrate the existing eucalyptus box trees and support landscape".

According to a Cultural Heritage Management Plan, an "appropriate response" needed to be determined for two scarred trees on the site.

The trees, which were scarred as a cause of Aboriginal people removing bark for various purposes, are of cultural significance to the Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owners.

The design must be in accordance with a Kangaroo Management Plan. According to local wildlife rescuers, there was a mob of up to 40 kangaroos living on the site.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Geotechnical works, which began in March, revealed asbestos is present "on the surface and near-surface" of the site and it was recommended an "experienced hygienist is engaged to characterise the extent of asbestos contamination".

Arsenic, lead and enzo[a]pyrene (BaP) were also found in mining sands at the site.

Several mine shafts were discovered around the site, however there were no known mine shafts found at the location itself.

"Due to historic use of land around Bendigo area, there is potential risk of a mine shaft being present within the site boundary despite not being present on the published data," the geotechnical report said.

To apply for the athletes village tender head to buyingfor.vic.gov.au.

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