From a contested vote on the Hargreaves Street streetscape to renewed pressure over Aboriginal cultural heritage protections, the City of Greater Bendigo had one of its more consequential weeks in months.
4 min read
The City of Greater Bendigo council chamber on Lyttleton Terrace was busier than usual this week, with councillors voting Wednesday night on a $2.3 million upgrade proposal for the Hargreaves Street Mall precinct, while separately facing an escalating dispute over how the municipality handles Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments ahead of several planned infrastructure projects. Neither issue wrapped up cleanly.
The timing matters because the council is three months out from finalising its 2026–27 capital works budget, and decisions made in July will lock in spending priorities before the October deadline. Rate notices covering the financial year beginning July 1 have already landed in letterboxes across Greater Bendigo — the average residential rate rose 2.8 per cent this cycle — and community groups are watching closely to see whether promised projects survive the budget process or get quietly deferred.
The Hargreaves Street Mall vote passed five to four, clearing the way for a streetscape redesign that includes widened footpaths, new canopy plantings and upgraded accessible entry points near the intersection with Mitchell Street. Opponents on the council argued the scope should be trimmed given competing demands on the capital works pool, but the majority held. Construction is currently pencilled in to begin in the second quarter of 2027, subject to procurement.
Running parallel to that vote is a sharper dispute involving Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, which has formally flagged concerns about cultural heritage management plans linked to two upcoming drainage upgrades — one near the Bendigo Creek corridor in Kangaroo Flat, the other connecting to works planned around the White Hills area. The corporation lodged correspondence with the council in late June arguing the consultation process fell short of obligations under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006. Council officers confirmed this week they have 28 days from receipt of the letter to formally respond. That deadline falls on July 24.
Bendigo Health's ongoing capital expansion on Lucan Street sits nearby in the planning landscape. The hospital's Stage 3B works, valued at roughly $630 million across the full program, have required several separate heritage assessments since breaking ground, and local heritage advocates point to that process as a benchmark the council's drainage projects should meet.
A motion to investigate a partial rate freeze for small commercial properties in the Bendigo CBD — floated by two councillors earlier in June — did not make the final agenda for Wednesday's meeting. Officers advised more time was needed to model the revenue impact. The proposal had drawn support from the Bendigo Business Council, which represents more than 400 member businesses, many of them concentrated in the View Street and Pall Mall precincts where vacancy rates have edged upward over the past 18 months.
The property market backdrop adds weight to the commercial landlord concerns. Asking rents on ground-floor retail space in the central activity district have softened, and some longer-term leases coming up for renewal are being renegotiated at lower figures. The rate freeze question is expected to return to council in August once a financial modelling report is completed.
La Trobe University's Bendigo campus on Edwards Road also surfaced in council discussions this week, indirectly. Council officers presented a brief update on the Bendigo GovHub precinct planning — the state government's project to consolidate public service workers in the CBD — which is intended in part to complement foot traffic near the university's city-facing programs. The GovHub feasibility report is due to the Department of Government Services by September 30.
Residents who want to track the Hargreaves Mall project, the Aboriginal heritage response or the rate review can attend the next scheduled council meeting on Wednesday, July 15, at the Lyttleton Terrace chambers from 6 pm. Agenda documents are published on the City of Greater Bendigo website five days before each meeting. Written submissions on the heritage matter must reach the council by July 18 to be considered in the formal response process.
Spread the word
About this article
Published by The Daily Bendigo
Daily brief
Free, in your inbox before 7am. Weekdays.