Peter Krenz Centre plan endorsed – City of Greater Bendigo council meeting briefs

THE plan for stage one of the Peter Krenz Centre redevelopment was approved at Monday’s City of Greater Bendigo council meeting, however councillors noted people may be disappointed with the timeframe proposed.

The redevelopment would see the centre transformed into a community hub, with the existing aquatic facilities connected to a new library, indoor/outdoor cafe, 24/7 gym, activity rooms, and public toilets.

The first stage is expected to take five years, and Cr Fagg said that timeline is “probably being generous. He said stage one will also require State and Federal Government funding support.

“There’s no point sugar-coating the reality of the challenges this project faces,” he said. “Even with [government] support, the pace of this project is significantly slower than anyone would like.”

Cr Julie Sloan said a community hub is “much-needed” in Eaglehawk and agreed external funding is needed to take the plan from initiating phase to design and approval phase.

Path not a priority

A footpath through Hustlers Reef Reserve will not be constructed soon, despite a petition lodged by 14 people.

The petition was presented to councillors in last month’s meeting and called for a concrete path to be built after a walker slipped and fell.

Councillors unanimously agreed safety signs are an appropriate alternative to a footpath, which was deemed too expensive.

Councillor Dave Fagg said the reserve’s potential footpath is not high on the priority list.

“I know [the petitioners] will be disappointed that a footpath through the reserve will not be constructed in the near future, even though it is on our list of footpaths,” he said.

According to a council staff report, the City has $105 million worth of new footpath requests across the municipality.

A concrete path at Hustlers Reef Reserve could cost as much as $135,000.

Healthy choices at venues

A new policy was adopted, which will require the food and drink served at City-run facilities to be healthy options.

There are 10 major sports and recreation facilities affected, including Gurri Wanyarra and Bendigo Stadium, and the policy seeks to “broaden the range” of facilities included.

The policy required volunteer-run facilities to provide healthy options for the first time and Cr Alden said support and ideas for cost-effective options would be provided.

“The quid pro quo in this has been that there’s a lower rental paid to the City of Greater Bendigo facilities abiding by this policy, with a few larger venues who pay commercial rentals not included,” she said.

She said venues with paid staff will be held to the higher requirement whereas volunteer-run venues will merely need to provide a commitment to healthier options.

Cr O’Rourke said she believes people better understand the policy now than when it was first tabled in January, and councillors are aware that to seek funding for various grants and projects, the City needs to abide by the policy.

Protection sought for cottages

Councillors have sought protection for 157 miners’ cottages against potential demolition.

The buildings include 59 early miners’ cottages, 42 quartz gold boom miners’ houses, 50 workers and mine speculators houses and seven quartz reefers’ houses, with the total number decided out of 229 potential listings.

An amendment to the planning scheme for a new heritage overlay is proposed, affecting the suburbs of Bendigo, Flora Hill, Golden Gully, Golden Square, ironbark, Long Gully, North Bendigo, Quarry Hill and West Bendigo.

Cr Fagg said heritage buildings continue to come under threat due to population growth, and old miners’ cottages should be protected like the bank buildings of View Street.

“The properties listed in this amendment… are one of the last tangible signs of the history of ordinary working people from Bendigo’s gold rush and gold mining past,” he said.

The motion carried unanimously, and the State Minister for Planning will be requested to approve the amendment.

If approved, an interim heritage overlay for any building listed could be applied while the amendment is processed, to block demolition.

City observes site’s importance

Councillors unanimously agreed a heritage overlay should be applied to the observatory and house located at 55 Condon Street, Kennington.

The Former East Observatory and “La Rocca” residence was constructed by prominent local architect John Beebe in 1900, and consultant agency History Making determined the site is of “historic, aesthetic, scientific and associative significance to the City of Greater Bendigo.

Cr Fagg said he appreciates the community members that initially alerted councillors to the property, which could have been sold in 2019.

Cr O’Rourke said she’s happy to see the observatory, residence and 10-metre curtilage protected.

She also said while the buildings have noticeable disrepair, “hopefully into the future it will get some love somewhere along the way and it may actually be open to the public to look at it sometime in the future.”

The Minister for Planning will have the final say on the heritage overlay.

Flood risk washes proposal

Councillors voted to refuse to grant a permit for a 14-lot subdivision at 11 and 13 Monsants Road, Maiden Gully.

Cr Jen Alden said there are flood risks involved with development on the site.

She said the flow of Myers Creek has been impacted due to changing weather patterns and higher rain fail.

Several of the lots are in land subject to inundation overlay, which requires a permit to be permitted for buildings and subdivisions on land affected by creek flooding up to 350 millimetres – known as an LSIO-1 and over 350 millimetres listed as LSIO-2.

Several of the lots proposed were located on LSIO-1, with half of two lots and a drainage basin and reserve located on LSIO-2.

Cr Marg O’Rourke said a precedent had already been set in the area, as the proposal site is located near other developments “that have been built on LSIO-1.”

She said while she agrees nothing should be built on the LSIO-1 she wanted to offer an alternative view that the lots be built on an LSIO-1 floodplain.

Crs Fyffe and Metcalf voted with O’Rourke, but the motion carried.

House could fragment farmland

A proposal for a dwelling and outbuilding was knocked back by councillors, due to it being in a farming zone and not supporting or enhancing agriculture.

The applicant sought to build at 214 Floods Road, Shelbourne, however councillors voted unanimously that the house would cause the fragmentation of land used for farming.

Cr Rod Fyffe said the surrounding area is used for cropping, grazing and stock keeping.

“The majority of the lots remain free and the locality presents as open farming,” he said.

“All too often we are getting applications saying we want to build a house and unfortunately many of us look at these in the way of being a de facto rural living.

“What we need to be concentrating on is preserving as much agricultural land as we possibly can, given the food security brought on by climate change.”