The City of Greater Bendigo has developed a draft Lawn Bowls Facilities and Participation Plan and is now inviting the community to provide feedback on the plan.
City of Greater Bendigo Active and Healthy Communities Manager Deb Simpson said the Greater Bendigo Lawn Bowls Facilities and Participation Plan provides a strategic framework to guide the future development, management and sustainability of lawn bowls across the municipality.
“We want to check that we’ve got it right and understand any issues or opportunities that we may have missed,” Ms Simpson said.
“In Greater Bendigo there is 13 lawn bowls clubs with a total of 30.5 greens. The Plan recognises and aims to address the current limited insight into club and facility capacity, restricting the ability to plan, develop, maintain and manage bowls effectively
“The draft Lawn Bowls Facilities and Participation Plan captures the needs of the bowls community, assesses the condition and capacity of existing facilities and highlights the short and longer-term aspirations of clubs.
“Through audits and analysis, the plan outlines constraints and opportunities for participation growth and provides evidence-based recommendations to prioritise facility investment.
“Key actions in the draft plan include further work towards the feasibility of a regional standard bowls venue with a covered synthetic green. This has been identified as a significant gap in the provision of a regional bowls venue for the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields (BCG) Bowls Region that was previously identified in the Bowls Victoria Strategic Facilities Plan (2020–2030).
“The plan aims to assist the City in supporting clubs to increase participation, strengthen governance, fundraising and long-term sustainability, and ensure facilities provide broader community benefit.
“It positions the Greater Bendigo bowls community within the wider regional and state context and aligns local priorities with broader strategic directions.
“It also builds on the State of Play Report for lawn bowls, which preceded this work and included all background information, detailed analysis of club engagement, facility audits, needs assessment and bowls participation trends.
Feedback received from the community will be considered and used to refine the draft plan before it is presented to Council later this year.
Members of the community can review the plan and complete the online survey on the City’s community engagement website Let’s Talk Greater Bendigo until Sunday August 2, 2026.
To provide feedback, visit: