Concerns TAFE cuts will hurt
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.”
Bendigo Weekly | Bendigo Weekly | 13-Jul-2012
ONE of Bendigo’s most important tourist destinations has become a busy and productive artisinal centre, thanks to graduates of Bendigo’s embattled TAFE.
“You can see the results,” artist Catherine Brennan said this week at her studio onsite at the Bendigo Pottery.
“So many people who go through TAFE courses want to create their own gallery, their own studio, their own business, and it gave us confidence to do that.
“Doesn’t the government want people in the workforce?”
Ms Brennan graduated from Bendigo TAFE in 2009, after five years studying part-time.
She said she had always wanted to do formal study in visual arts, but her circumstances after school meant she was not able to enrol in a university course.
“Enrolling in TAFE was a real awakening for me,” she said.
“I was mostly self-taught, but wanted to learn in an environment that not only took me through the basics but also taught me to teach.
“Throughout my course, I sat beside people who didn’t have the money to go to uni, or whose parents couldn’t afford to send them.
“It allowed us to just try, without too much risk.”
When she completed her TAFE course, Ms Brennan looked for opportunities to sell her handmade scarves as well as paintings and other artworks.
When she noticed a building near the entrance to Bendigo Pottery was being used as a stores shed, she suggested to managing director Rod Thomson she could rent it as a shop and studio space.
Now, she works there seven days a week, and since she opened in April last year, other artists, several of them also TAFE graduates, have set up in nearby buildings.
“I dream of making this like another artists’ village,” she says.
Ms Brennan credits TAFE with getting her started in her business, and is concerned cuts to funding will limit future opportunities for other artists.
“I wouldn’t be here, if it wasn’t for TAFE,” she said.
“TAFE is like the heart of this city, it’s at the centre.
“If the heart starts to suffer, the community will break down.”
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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