How Greater Bendigo arrived at its single-councillor ward system and the Lockwood vacancy

The City of Greater Bendigo Council adopted a single-councillor ward electoral structure under Victoria’s Local Government Act 2020, with the new boundaries applying from the October 2024 local elections.

This requirement replaced the previous multi-councillor arrangement and directly shaped representation across the municipality, including Lockwood Ward. The transition occurred after the state government directed all councils to move to the single-member model, a policy embedded in the 2020 legislation and confirmed in the council’s electoral structure review.

Path to the 2025 vacancy

Councillor John McIlrath resigned from Lockwood Ward on November 17, 2025, creating the vacancy that Donna Nicholas later filled through a by-election held in March 2026. The single-councillor format meant the seat remained empty for several months while the by-election process ran its course, a direct consequence of the ward boundaries established two years earlier.

Council records show the structure change was finalised after the August 2023 electoral review report, which aligned with the state mandate. Residents in Lockwood Ward therefore voted under the new single-member rules both in 2024 and again in the 2026 by-election.

Related council property and project decisions

In February 2024 the council resolved to declare eight freehold properties as potentially surplus and launched a five-week community engagement period on the proposal. That step occurred while the single-councillor boundaries were already in place following the 2024 elections.

At the same time, the Bendigo Tramways Workshop Expansion project was reported as nearing practical completion with an expected close-out in the fourth quarter of 2024. Planning and heritage permits for the Bendigo Art Gallery Redevelopment had also been granted, with funding advocacy continuing. These matters illustrate the range of operational decisions the council managed under the revised electoral framework.

The next steps for Lockwood Ward now rest with Councillor Nicholas, who took office after the March 2026 by-election. Future council meetings will determine how the single-councillor model continues to operate across all wards in the lead-up to the next general election cycle.