Bendigo misses out on budget wishlist including major road projects

The government will also spend a mystery amount on a water treatment plant to deal with potentially toxic groundwater.

Those are among the key takeaways for Bendigo in a belt-tightening Victorian budget for 2024/25.

The budget has been shaped by a 22 per cent surge in construction costs since 2021, inflation and pressure to bring the state's debt back in line.

Greater Bendigo's council has got no money for its budget wishlist, which included upgrades for Epsom's Howard Street and Midland Highway.

It also missed out on funding for Maiden Gully's Calder Highway and Maiden Gully Road.

The project had been championed by Regional Cities Victoria because "signalisation of this intersection will immediately unlock land for 141 new homes in a key growth area in Bendigo and enable a further 1952 new homes thereafter".

Bendigo's council is also still awaiting $5.4 million for stage two of a new sports pavilion at the North Bendigo Recreation reserve.

That said, council chief executive Andrew Cooney said before the budget's release that the city had been fortunate in recent years to get money for a host of big projects including the Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo Airport terminal and Maiden Gully industrial land project.

"The city is mindful that investment must be shared across the state," he said.

Premier Jacinta Allan said the government wanted to spend the next financial year focussing on road maintenance.

"We've put $964 million into road maintenance," she said. It was part of a longer term $6.6 billion road spend.

Ms Allan said that money would help communities grapping with natural disasters.

"We had the October '22 floods that we were still rebuilding from and then the ones from late December into January," she said.

The budget papers also reveal the government is planning to spend money on a new water treatment plant to help deal with the toxic groundwater rising beneath Bendigo residents' feet.

Its price tag is still to be made public.

That is because the government is still to finish commercial agreements on the build.

The government expects to spend another $44 million managing toxic groundwater in the new financial year, other sections of the budget show.

Another Bendigo budget winner is Camp Hill Primary School.

It is one of 25 Victorian schools that will get upgrades for classroom and facility upgrades and builds on an election commitment.

Camp Hill's $4.1 million upgrades should be complete by 2025/26.

Plans are also in the works for White Hills Primary School, the budget papers show, but no funding has been locked in this time around.