AMIDST a whirlwind start to his tenure, City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Thomas Prince squeezed in sufficient time to speak with the Bendigo Times regarding his plans and predictions for 2026.<\/p>\n
At the top of the agenda for the Lake Weeroona Ward representative are hopes to engage more directly with local schools and strengthen community connections \u2013 especially with young residents.<\/p>\n
“We’re not going to wait for them to engage with us,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I think inspiring our young people and building them a better understanding of what local government is and what it does is a really strong standpoint.<\/p>\n
“It also means that we’ve got opportunities to support (them).<\/p>\n
“If they want to have conversations around leadership or recycling or (other) areas, things they’re passionate about, that can be an opportunity for us to help.<\/p>\n
“It’s a good example of how I’m keen to connect to the community, (and) the exciting thing is that there are heaps of opportunities out there.”<\/p>\n
Cr Prince revealed he also envisages possibilities to boost tourism and business activity through events and CBD activations during the much-discussed Bendigo Art Gallery closure (for a minimum of two years).<\/p>\n
“That’s going to create quite a big hole in the visitor economy,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This is a good and a bad thing at the same time.<\/p>\n
“It creates opportunities for us to diversify and create other (circumstances) to be able to help the businesses that rely on tourism; and it also means we’ve got to get used to not being reliant on that one driver.<\/p>\n
“So, making sure we try and keep people coming to our CBD and through the door of all our businesses, whether they’re locals or not, is pretty important.<\/p>\n
“We have some really, really exciting engagements coming into the Hargreaves Mall to inject people into that space, but also to engage with our lovely heritage buildings \u2013 events that have had high success rates in the past.”<\/p>\n
Cr Prince also touched on engaging better with the council’s approximately 1000 employees, of whom he commented: “Most do a really good job, but I want them to know that I see that. They often say the health of your business reflects on how well you treat your staff.<\/p>\n
“For me, a lot of it is (about) approaching them and saying, hey, you probably don’t get the love you deserve.<\/p>\n
“That’s pretty important when it comes to establishing a culture of who our council is.<\/p>\n
“If it starts here, that also flows on to our community.”<\/p>\n
On a personal note, he said he’s keen to meet more residents and effectively get on with his job.<\/p>\n
“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “I’m looking forward to people reaching out to me; I’m not going to have all the answers, so if people who do could help me, that’d be great too.<\/p>\n
“If everyone can stay happy, well and look after each other, I think that would be a pretty good way for us to move ahead.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AMIDST a whirlwind start to his tenure, City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Thomas Prince squeezed in sufficient time to speak with the Bendigo Times regarding his plans and predictions for 2026. At the top of the agenda for the Lake Weeroona Ward representative are hopes to engage more directly with local schools and strengthen […]<\/p>\n