Bendigo's green push gains ground: what happened this week on environment and sustainability

The City of Greater Bendigo confirmed this week it will expand its Community Energy Program to cover an additional 340 low-income households across the municipality before the end of the 2026 financial year, accelerating a rollout that began in March with a pilot of 80 properties in Kangaroo Flat. The program subsidises rooftop solar installations at up to 80 per cent of cost for eligible residents, with the council co-funding the scheme alongside a $1.2 million grant from the Victorian Government's Neighbourhood Batteries Initiative.

The timing matters. National property data released this week shows cooling prices in regional centres, and energy affordability has become a live political pressure point as winter bills land in letterboxes. For Bendigo households already stretched, the solar subsidy represents hundreds of dollars off annual energy costs, the council's own modelling puts the average saving at $870 per year for a standard three-bedroom home.

The Bendigo Sustainability Group, which operates out of the Charing Cross precinct and has run community workshops since 2019, recorded its highest single-week attendance on record at its Tuesday evening session on July 1. More than 60 residents packed the upstairs room at the Bendigo Town Hall annexe to hear from representatives of the Coliban Water authority about residential water efficiency upgrades and from La Trobe University's Bendigo campus environmental science faculty about local biodiversity monitoring. La Trobe's regional campus on Edwards Road has been running a citizen science program, BioTrack Bendigo, since late 2024, cataloguing native vegetation corridors stretching from Huntly to Long Gully.

Loddon River water quality back under the microscope

Separately, the Loddon Campaspe Landcare Network released preliminary findings this week from water quality sampling conducted along a 40-kilometre stretch of the Loddon River between Newbridge and Serpentine during June. The data flagged elevated phosphorus levels at three monitoring sites, consistent with agricultural runoff patterns the network has tracked since 2021. Phosphorus concentrations at the Newbridge gauge hit 0.18 milligrams per litre in mid-June, above the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority's guideline threshold of 0.10 milligrams per litre for lowland rivers.

The Loddon findings add urgency to a broader conversation about Murray-Darling Basin water policy that has been running in Canberra for months. Victorian water authorities are under pressure to demonstrate local stewardship ahead of the next federal review of the Basin Plan, due for assessment in September. The Loddon Campaspe Landcare Network said it would present its June data to the North Central Catchment Management Authority at a formal meeting scheduled for July 22 in Bendigo's Hargreaves Street offices.

What residents can do, and what comes next

Households in the Kangaroo Flat, Strathdale and Eaglehawk postcodes will receive letterbox drops next week outlining how to register interest in the Community Energy Program's expanded round. Applications open on July 14 via the council's online portal and close August 8. The council has flagged that demand in the first round exceeded available slots by roughly two to one, so early registration is advised.

The Bendigo Sustainability Group will hold a follow-up waterways forum on July 17 at the Bendigo Library on Hargreaves Street, open to the public from 6pm. Coliban Water staff and North Central CMA officers are both expected to attend. For residents near waterways who want to report unusual algal blooms or discolouration, the EPA's 24-hour pollution hotline remains the fastest reporting channel, 1300 372 842. The BioTrack Bendigo program is also recruiting volunteers to assist with September vegetation surveys along the Spring Gully bushland reserve corridors, with sign-ups handled through La Trobe University's community engagement office on Edwards Road.