Bendigo Folk Club helps put Mick Thomas on the right path
BENDIGO’S residential Strategy will be reviewed because of greater than expected growth.
The State Government has announced a grant of $50,000 to carry out the review.
The review is needed because, according to the State Government, 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
Regional Development Parliamentary Secretary Damian Drum made the announcement this morning.
Mr Drum said the Bendigo Residential Strategy Review would deliver greater community and investor certainty, helping the region grow.
“The Bendigo Residential Development Strategy was adopted in 2004 and is currently being audited because of the faster than anticipated growth that has occurred in Bendigo in recent years,” he said.
“Strong residential growth has many flow-on economic benefits and having a clear framework for future development will position Greater Bendigo City Council to undertake more detailed, place-based planning in the future.”
Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said about 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
The Residential Strategy impacts directly on where and how property developments use “infill” parcels of land, range of housing styles and also on housing affordability.
“This project will review the strategy, assess current and estimated land supply and demand and consider various legislative and policy changes,” Mr Ryan said,
“It will also consider the latest demographic data and establish a new strategic framework to guide the long-term residential growth of Greater Bendigo.
“The project will result in a revised residential strategy that will give developers, the community and service providers greater surety and confidence about where land can be developed for residential purposes, and that sufficient land is available to accommodate the City of Greater Bendigo’s future growth.”
Mr Ryan said a contemporary strategic planning framework was essential to the economic development of a large regional centre like Bendigo.
“Clearly identifying future growth options and supporting infrastructure needs will enable the Greater Bendigo City Council and other infrastructure providers to plan their capital works programs well in advance,” he said.
“Identifying long-term growth areas will enable the council and other service authorities to start planning for the delivery of services, thereby minimising the lag time between when residential development occurs and when the services need to be in place.”
Ben Cameron | Bendigo Weekly | 28-Mar-2012
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Mick Thomas hadn't even heard of the Bendigo Folk Club until recently.
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The Bendigo Folk Club has done it’s little bit to clear a new path for music legend Mick Thomas.
Thomas played an intimate gig under the Queen Elizabeth Oval grandstand late in 2010, to around 80 people, but it left a lasting impression.
“It’s probably the most important gig I’ve done in five years,” Thomas says, who spends a lot of his time at his property in Bealiba.
“It sounds like a weird kind of thing to say, but that’s the gig that kind of set this whole thing, the album and changing the band around, into motion.
“It was that night, it was amazing. It’s a lovely little room."
When first asked to play under the grandstand, Thomas was nonchalant.
“I was like ‘Bendigo Folk Club, what’s that?’,” Thomas remembers.
“But I hadn’t played with (accordion player) Wally (Mark Wallace) for years in that sort of situation.
“We’d done this gig with the Weddings (Parties, Anything)... we’d just done this big gig in Sydney... we sold out The Enmore.
“Wally said ‘is it my imagination or was that more fun than the Sydney gig?’ and I said ‘yeah, that’s what I was thinking too’.”
The gig came at just the right time for Thomas, who had been grieving the loss of his mother, who'd died a month before.
“Gigs like that can be so important in your career,” Thomas says.
“It sounds like a jaded thing to say, but I guess a gig can still be special.
“A little gig can make you see where you should go, you know?
“That night we hit it. It made me think I wanted to go somewhere with Wally.”
And they did, undertaking a tour of Canada, then a trip to Portland, Oregon to record the new album.
The Last of the Tourists is out now.
BENDIGO’S residential Strategy will be reviewed because of greater than expected growth.
The State Government has announced a grant of $50,000 to carry out the review.
The review is needed because, according to the State Government, 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
Regional Development Parliamentary Secretary Damian Drum made the announcement this morning.
Mr Drum said the Bendigo Residential Strategy Review would deliver greater community and investor certainty, helping the region grow.
“The Bendigo Residential Development Strategy was adopted in 2004 and is currently being audited because of the faster than anticipated growth that has occurred in Bendigo in recent years,” he said.
“Strong residential growth has many flow-on economic benefits and having a clear framework for future development will position Greater Bendigo City Council to undertake more detailed, place-based planning in the future.”
Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said about 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.
The Residential Strategy impacts directly on where and how property developments use “infill” parcels of land, range of housing styles and also on housing affordability.
“This project will review the strategy, assess current and estimated land supply and demand and consider various legislative and policy changes,” Mr Ryan said,
“It will also consider the latest demographic data and establish a new strategic framework to guide the long-term residential growth of Greater Bendigo.
“The project will result in a revised residential strategy that will give developers, the community and service providers greater surety and confidence about where land can be developed for residential purposes, and that sufficient land is available to accommodate the City of Greater Bendigo’s future growth.”
Mr Ryan said a contemporary strategic planning framework was essential to the economic development of a large regional centre like Bendigo.
“Clearly identifying future growth options and supporting infrastructure needs will enable the Greater Bendigo City Council and other infrastructure providers to plan their capital works programs well in advance,” he said.
“Identifying long-term growth areas will enable the council and other service authorities to start planning for the delivery of services, thereby minimising the lag time between when residential development occurs and when the services need to be in place.”
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