City looks into crystal ball

A FUTURE-focused community vision has been crafted to help with City of Greater Bendigo’s planning for the next ten years.

The full vision reads, “Greater Bendigo celebrates our diverse community. We are welcoming, sustainable and prosperous. Walking hand-in-hand with the traditional custodians of this land. Building on our rich heritage for a bright and happy future.”

The five values that support the statement are transparency, sustainability, inclusion, innovation and equity and which council’s decision making will look to reflect.

Mayor Cr Jennifer Alden said she was very impressed with the panel that decided on the values and vision, a group of 65 residents aged 12 to 70 who met at Ulumbarra Theatre from Friday, 14 May to Sunday, 16 May.

“The thing that we’ve done different to a lot of other local governments so far is we’ve had a youth panel,” Cr Alden said.

“That made an enormous difference to have that perspective in all our deliberations and they contributed really well, so that was an important part of that process.”

Cr Alden, in her second term as councillor, said the idea of a bright and happy future resonated with her the most.

“The use of the words celebration and happiness I thought were wonderful. The panel talked a lot about what does it mean to be a citizen of Bendigo,” she said.

“There’s also very strong conversation around acknowledgement for an increased voice of our traditional owners and the value of that, and that will play out in a range of different priorities.

“Let’s move into a bright and happy future and I think that’s what really summed it up. It’s such a positive thing.

“There was a really strong appreciation for what we already have and our heritage and where we come from and to build on that.”

With the some experts saying the municipality on track to reach a population of 200,000 by 2050, and growth accelerated by the “post-COVID exodus” from capital cities, Cr Alden said sustainability will be an important area for council to focus on.

“We know that we need to have an approach to building and design that’s going to consider the changes that have happened and will continue to happen,” she said.

Council is also aware of the increase in outdoor exercise, which has continued since COVID lockdowns.

“We’ve done good work on monitoring how that rate of walking essentially doubled on our tracks,” Cr Alden said.

“It’s up to us as council to look to the type of infrastructure that we’re planning for to make sure that what’s available matches people’s expectations.”

As part of stage two of the Imagine Greater Bendigo project, the community vision will be available for public feedback before a council plan, financial plan and a municipal public health and wellbeing plan are delivered in October.