Advocacy

Bendigo Regional Employment Precinct

Planning stage

The Bendigo Regional Employment Precinct (BREP) will provide critical industrial land to the broader region.

The City is seeking funds to finalise planning work that is already underway in partnership with Development Victoria, the Department of Transport and Planning, Regional Development Victoria and the Victorian Planning Authority.

There is less than seven years’ industrial land supply left in Greater Bendigo and large, unrestrained parcels of land will be needed in the future to support a strong local manufacturing industry. When completely developed, the BREP site is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs, with stage 1 expected to create 1,150 jobs and generate $3.3B in economic benefits.

Golden Dragon Museum

Detailed design and construction

The Golden Dragon Museum is ready to become the National Chinese Museum of Australia. The planned redevelopment represents an exciting next chapter for the Museum and will feature new museum-standard exhibition spaces, theatre, research centre, education studio and expanded collection storage. State and Federal governments recently funded initial design and planning for this project.

Rectangular field events space

Feasibility stage

Funding for a feasibility study to investigate the location and design of a new multi-purpose outdoor stadium for national and international sporting competition and events. This feasibility study will review event facilities across the city and identify future opportunities.

Enhanced city centre activation

Event delivery

Funding to attract large-scale events and activations to Bendigo to support the local and regional economy, particularly while Bendigo Art Gallery is being redeveloped.

World Heritage Listing - Victorian Goldfields

Victoria has the world’s best example of a gold rush cultural landscape. This includes its geography and biodiversity, First Nations history, international migration, historic settlements, industry and mining landscapes.

National and international experts have found that Victoria has the world’s most extensive and best surviving gold rush landscape, when compared to gold rush landscapes around the world and in Australia.

Fifteen councils have joined together to achieve UNESCO World Heritage Listing, which would share the extraordinary story of the Victorian Goldfields with people from across the globe and create social, cultural and economic opportunities across the region.

Work is underway to confirm a final list of sites to be included in the formal nomination, scheduled to be lodged in February 2029.

• World Heritage Tentative Listing was confirmed by the Federal Government in January 2025
• Seeking to achieve formal World Heritage Listing by 2030 (determined by UNESCO)

Healthy Loddon Campaspe

Program delivery

Funding to continue the Healthy Loddon Campaspe (HLC) initiative, which delivers projects focused on healthy eating and getting more people, more active, more often. HLC is a partnership involving the City of Greater Bendigo and Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Loddon, Macedon Ranges and Mount Alexander shires. Statistics from the 2025 HLC Active Living Census highlight the continued need for place-based interventions and a focus on systems change to address the health inequities still seen within the region.

Ken Wust Oval (Quarry Hill Recreation Reserve)

Detailed design and construction

A new facility to replace the existing hall and pavilion at Quarry Hill Recreation Reserve to address current and future sporting and community needs. The new facility would operate as a thriving multipurpose hub that is contemporary, accessible, flexible and inclusive, and caters for current and future users, groups/clubs and the broader community. Home to cricket, soccer, baseball, junior AFL and a diverse variety of community groups including the Central Victorian Lion Team, U3A, Bendigo Coin and Collectors, as well as local primary schools.

California Gully Recreation Reserve

Design and construction of pavilion, design funding for broader reserve

A pavilion to cater for senior and junior cricket and junior football (design cost $250,000 / total project cost $4M, inclusive of design). An additional $500,000 would deliver a broader reserve design, along with the construction of community infrastructure to support community activation through lighting and a new pump track, with additional elements of the reserve design to be delivered in future stages.

Bendigo Regional Hockey Complex lights

Construction

Renewal of lighting to both pitches to support local and regional hockey participation, and support continued event attraction. Bendigo is also the regional home of the Melbourne Cobras, committing to home games in Bendigo for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Faith Leech Aquatic Centre electrification

Construction

Faith Leech Aquatic Centre is Bendigo’s premier, outdoor, heated year-round aquatic facility. It is home to competition, club swimming and recreational use. The facility generates approximately 800t CO²e annually and is the City of Greater Bendigo’s second highest CO²-emitting asset. Electrifying this facility would reduce the City’s reliance on gas and support the City’s continued goal of transitioning its facilities off gas. Detailed design is complete.

Bendigo Botanic Gardens splash park

Detailed design and construction

Detailed design and construction of a splash park to be located at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens. This project delivers on existing strategies, including the Community Aquatic Facilities Strategy and Bendigo Botanic Gardens Master Plan.

Scoreboard replacement

Construction

Scoreboard replacements for Epsom Huntly Recreation Reserve, Queen Elizabeth Oval, Heathcote’s Barrack Reserve, Kangaroo Flat’s Dower Park and Strathfieldsaye Oval in Warne Court.

Bendigo Walking and Cycling Shared Paths

Delivery and design

A package of priority active travel routes to create more safe walking and cycling options for our growing community. When complete, these routes will provide a ‘hub and spoke’ model and connect more of Bendigo’s growing suburbs to the Low Line Trail – the spine of Bendigo’s active transport network. They will also deliver a loop around inner Bendigo, filling missing links between our existing key trails. Safer road crossings would be included in the designs. The package enables projects to be progressively delivered.

Key priority projects to be delivered or designed would include the following, representing 28km of new trail and safer road crossings:

Deliver Ironbark Gully Trail stages 2 and 3 (shovel-ready)

• Total project cost - $2.3M
• Victorian Government - $1.3M
• City of Greater Bendigo - $1M

Deliver Eaglehawk to Long Gully connection (concept design complete)

• Total project cost - $4.83M
• Victorian Government - $2.83M
• City of Greater Bendigo - $2M

Design

• Huntly connection
• Strathfieldsaye/Strathdale connection (3.5km of new trail, to complete a 9km connection)
• Maiden Gully connection
• Inner Bendigo loop (7km of new trail, to complete a 22km loop) 

Malone Park, Marong

Construction of community infrastructure, feasibility and design for sports infrastructure

Funding to construct a new township-level play space, fitness station, multi-purpose half court/hit up wall, shelter, picnic facilities and updated amenities, as well as undertake a feasibility study and designs ($500,000) for new club facilities, sports fields and pavilion/s.

Calder Highway and Calder Alternate Highway, Marong intersection

Construction

The intersection needs to better cater for an increase in traffic generated from four new residential precincts surrounding the Marong township, to ensure the intersection is safe for all users. The project also forms part of a key freight corridor and will help facilitate the future Bendigo Regional Employment Precinct, which will create 3,000 direct jobs, with stage 1 expected to create 1,150 jobs and generate $3.3B in economic benefits. Intersection design work undertaken by the Department of Transport and Planning.

Mundy Street Pedestrian Operated Signal

Construction

The Victorian Government has funded the construction of a protected shared user path along Mundy Street, from Back Creek to McCrae Street in the city centre. The project is missing a safe crossing point for pedestrians and bike riders to cross Mundy Street and Myers Street. Myers Street is a four-lane arterial road that carries more than 12,000 vehicles daily.

Racecourse Creek flood levee

Design and construction

An important flood mitigation project identified as part of the Epsom, Ascot, Huntly Floodplain Management Study to manage the impacts of riverine flooding on residential and commercial properties along Racecourse Creek in Epsom. Construction of the levee system will ensure flood flows during a 1% AEP event will be contained within the creek, avoiding impacts on property that have occurred because of past fl ood events. This project also includes a VicTrack / V/Line track lift and bridge structure upgrade along the Echuca rail line.

Bendigo Bus Network review implementation

As part of the 2025/2026 Victorian Government Budget, funding was allocated for the Bendigo Bus Network review. The next step is to implement the findings and the previously prepared Bendigo City Centre Bus Realignment, a joint project between the City of Greater Bendigo and Department of Transport and Planning to re-route buses around the city centre to provide greater coverage and accessibility, as well as increase frequency on higher-volume routes and add services where there are currently none.

Bendigo Metro Rail - free travel and capacity building

To encourage greater take-up of local train travel, introduce free travel to train stations within the Greater Bendigo municipality and to/from Castlemaine Station, and undertake planning to increase capacity on the Bendigo train line to deliver additional local services and increase frequency to/from Melbourne.

Eaglehawk Library

Design and construct

Develop a new library branch in Eaglehawk. The library will sit in the Eaglehawk precinct within walking distance from a major play space, Lake Neangar, Canterbury Park, McKern Skate Park, Eaglehawk Bowls Club and multi-use courts.

Community safety

To enhance community safety and support our growing community, the City requests: 

• Additional police stations in Huntly and Strathfieldsaye and 24-hour operations at the Eaglehawk Police Station
• Additional Protective Service Officers for Bendigo Train Station to provide greater coverage throughout the afternoon and early evening 

To enhance city centre safety, implement outcomes from the Bendigo Bus Network review, separate bus drop-off bays along Mitchell Street and distribute buses around the city centre.

Housing security

Bendigo needs crisis accommodation outside of the Winter Night Shelter program. The City of Greater Bendigo and stakeholder agencies recognise the need and are actively working on a solution that best meets the needs of the community across age groups, including young people. The City would like to work with the Victorian Government on an appropriate outcome.