Greater Bendigo Council Budget and Planning Steps Align with Approaches Seen in Regional Cities Worldwide

Greater Bendigo City Council adopted a $280 million budget for 2026-27 that directs nearly $100 million to roads, buildings, parks and community facilities.

The decision arrives while the council sits in caretaker mode ahead of postal voting for the October 24 election. Heritage overlay proposals covering 18 sites now sit alongside a $30 million hotel development plan, creating the kind of tension that surfaces whenever regional centres try to protect character while attracting investment.

Budget and infrastructure priorities

Council documents record a $9.4 million operating deficit for the current year and note that a $3 million loan was secured to cover the shortfall without elevating overall financial risk. The allocation of almost $100 million to physical assets shows a clear preference for capital works even as revenue pressure persists.

Similar regional cities facing comparable deficits have also leaned on targeted borrowing paired with infrastructure spending to keep services steady and limit rate shocks. Bendigo’s choice to ring-fence nearly 36 per cent of the total budget for roads and facilities follows that pattern.

Planning and environmental measures

Amendment C279gben to the Planning Scheme was approved to give effect to the Bendigo City Centre Plan, introducing new activity zones, heritage guidelines and parking overlays. The full implementation is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. At the same time a remediation plan to halt contaminated runoff from the former Bendigo Gasworks site into Bendigo Creek has been completed and signed off by the EPA, with a site management plan now due within six months.

These steps-zoning reform alongside an EPA-approved cleanup-mirror the sequenced approach many mid-sized cities adopt when redevelopment pressure meets legacy contamination. The council’s decisions stay within existing caretaker constraints and draw on established state planning processes rather than new legislation.

Residents can track further updates through the council’s public consultation portal at letstalkgreaterbendigo.com.au and review the detailed minutes of the May 19 2025 meeting that recorded the gasworks approval. Next formal steps remain the continuation of the site management plan and the staged rollout of the city-centre amendment.