Gold goes it alone
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 | 07-Sep-2012
By JOEL PETERSON
The Bendigo Football Club‘s alignment with Essendon is over, after they bravely went down in their VFL elimination final contest with Williamstown by 12 points last Saturday.
The Gold produced a spirited fightback with three of their four Essendon-listed players going down with injury, kicking five consecutive goals to cut the deficit to five points in the last term, but just fell short of the Seagulls.
The club goes standalone in 2013, and new coach Austinn Jones said he was buoyed by the team’s remarkable performance in such trying circumstances.
“The fact there were only four Essendon listed players in the game, and down to one at the end, showed that the talent on our list is certainly there and we absolutely have something to work with,” he said.
“It made me pretty excited to be honest, and I thought to myself we really have a chance to be pretty good.”
Jones and his family moved into their house in Bendigo last week and the former St Kilda champion said being involved in the community is one of his main focuses, including coaching Catholic College Bendigo’s boys’ football team next year.
“Definitely, I’ll be getting involved with some school clinics, I’ll coach the Catholic College team next year and I’ll be getting involved whenever and wherever I can because I feel it’s extremely important,” he said.
“I was glad in a way that my season with Beaconsfield ended at the weekend, because I was excited to get up here.”
Jones and Gold general manager Graham Pratt aren’t getting ahead of themselves, Pratt setting realistic expectations into next season.
“We think that if we can be consistently competitive, win games at the QEO, get a few young players drafted and draw good crowds, we will have had a pretty successful year,” he said.
“Am I competitive? Absolutely. Is Austinn competitive? You bet, and we’d both love to make finals, but we also realise that’s unlikely to happen in the first year or two.”
Off the field, the Gold faces a number of challenges including recruiting players and finding a permanent base, which Pratt said they are tackling head on.
In a boost for the club, their home games, including up to four Friday night games, will be played at the QEO.
“Sandhurst and South Bendigo have been great with allowing us to use their facilities when we’ve played at the QEO this year,” Pratt said.
“They ran the canteen for us and got the proceeds, which was a real win-win situation.
“It’s great to be able to play at the QEO, it’s a fantastic facility and we hope the Friday night games will attract big followings, but we’d love to have our own facility to call home.”
Jones said the club has held discussions with a number of players.
“Our list (of 36 players) will probably consist of a few ex-Bendigo Pioneers boys, players from our existing list and then other players,” he said.
“We’ve been having really positive talks with a fair few players.”
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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