Council backs Voice – City of Greater Bendigo council meeting briefs

THE recommendation for City of Greater Bendigo councillors to formally support the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to Federal Parliament was the major topic on a lengthy agenda at Monday’s regular council meeting.

The suggested motion also pledged to share information on the referendum so residents could form a decision, and that personal positions of councillors would not interfere with the stance of the council as a group.

Cr Margaret O’Rourke introduced the motion and spoke at length about why it was important for council to adopt the recommendation.

“It recognises their [First Nations Peoples] prior occupation and custodianship of the land, their distinct cultures, languages and histories, and their ongoing connections to their traditional lands,” she said.

“What this referendum does not do, the Voice will not have a program delivery function, nor will it have veto powers.

“Recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in the constitution ensures that Indigenous Australians have a direct and meaningful role in shaping policies and laws that impact them.

“Constitutional recognition can contribute to closing the gap between indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, in areas such as health, education, employment, and social outcomes.”

While most councillors voted in favour of the motion, Crs Matthew Evans and Vaughan Williams were opposed, while Cr Greg Penna abstained.

Cr Evans said there were two reasons why he did not support the motion, including concerns that people accessing information through the municipality “could regard important information with a grain of salt” if aware of the council’s stance.

“Firstly, I believe it’s a clear and obvious contradiction to formally support one side of the debate, while seeking to provide neutral information. It simply does not pass the commonsense test,” he said.

“How can we commit to informing and sharing clear, unbiased information on the voice to Parliament and all aspects of the upcoming referendum while favouring one side of the debate?”

Cr Williams said he mostly agreed with Cr Evans, but believed council shouldn’t be spending money on distributing information on the referendum when it was a national issue, and he’d rather the municipality spent money on “core council business.”

 

Land developments

Land at 15 and 21 Pratts Park Road in Strathdale will be rezoned from low density residential zone to general residential and subdivided into at least 39 lots, with the creation of a connection through North Borne Avenue and a drainage basin.

At Sebastian the development of a dwelling to be used for breeding alpacas has been approved at Bassett Road.

Council has refused two proposals in Eaglehawk, one to demolish a 120-year-old building for the development of a medical centre at 49 Napier Street, and another for a construction permit for a building, front fence, and vehicle crossover on Haggar Street.

Finally, a permit for the use and development of a three-lot subdivision on Axedale-Kimbolton Road at Eppalock was granted.

 

Road requests

Council voted unanimously to receive two petitions, one to close the northern part of Robshaw Street in Ironbark, and the other to reduce the speed limit for Peatlings Road at Bagshot.

The reason for the first push related to concerns with dust from vehicular use of the gravel part of the road, with the petition stating it will allow for safer and more enjoyable use by pedestrians if closed.

The second asked for a reduction of the speed limit to 80kph due to large volumes of traffic on the road.

Residents said they believe the traffic is being caused by directions by Google Maps, and streetlights at the northern end of the road leading people to believe it’s a more major road than it’s meant to be.

Council will organise responses to these petitions within two meetings.

 

Policies and plans

Council adopted the Greater Bendigo Public Art Policy 2023, which replaces the Public Art Policy 2008, with the new document taking into account changes since then.

The move comes after a four-week community engagement process.

Also okayed was the updated Public Transparency Policy, which includes slight grammatical and structural changes and an alteration to the time of the review cycle from 12 months to four years, as since its implementation in 2020, it has only seen minor adjustments.

Lastly, a draft municipal Positive Ageing Plan 2023-2025 was endorsed, and the final version is to be put to the community after adoption.

 

Other news

Five-and-a-half thousand organic bins will be introduced to rural properties that have yet to receive the organics service. The service will begin for the properties in mid-November at no charge.

Four locations will have their heritage overlay removed after council considered submissions on their lack of historical significance, or are beyond repair, have been modified extensively already, or that would be too costly to comply with the existing rules.

Two of the properties are in Long Gully, and the other two in Bendigo.

Stage two of the Strathfieldsaye Community Hub project was awarded a $2,752,835 contract for 10 months.

Central Goldfields Library Service and Funding Agreement 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2025 was approved by council to be signed by the CEO.