Council extends its sincere thanks to the local community for their valuable input on two key milestone documents, the proposed Council Plan Mir wimbul 2025-2029 and the Budget 2025/2026.
Shaped by community priorities through extensive public engagement, these documents will be considered for adoption at the next Council Meeting on Monday June 16, starting at 6pm.
For the first time, the proposed Council Plan and Budget have been developed and planned together, ensuring a strong alignment between strategic goals and the resources required to achieve them.
Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said this combined approach marked a significant step forward in addressing both current and future community needs.
"Developing the proposed Council Plan and Budget at the same time has ensured that our strategic goals are directly supported by the projects and initiatives we're funding," Cr Metcalf said.
"The proposed Council Plan sets our direction for the next four years and includes the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. We're focused on creating a welcoming community and a healthy environment that supports people to thrive. It reinforces the City's commitment to improving health outcomes in partnership with local health organisations."
The proposed Budget 2025/2026 outlines key priorities for the coming year, supported by an annual action plan to ensure efficient and sustainable delivery of services.
Cr Metcalf acknowledged the extensive community engagement that helped to shape both documents.
"These milestone plans would not have been possible without the input of hundreds of community members, partner organisations, and Traditional Owner organisations. Councillors sincerely thank everyone who contributed their time, ideas, and experiences."
The planning process included:
- A wide number of community focus groups and meetings with Traditional Owner organisations, key partners, local groups, and businesses
- Two community-wide surveys with over 500 responses
- A 42-person deliberative community panel held over a weekend in March that was selected from over 200 registrants, representing diverse genders, abilities, and cultural backgrounds, including First Nations community members
"The community deliberative panel met over three days to provide guidance to Councillors, helping shape ideas that reflect the community's voice and the Council Plan's vision. Based on this and earlier community feedback, people told us they want Greater Bendigo to be responsible, healthy, thriving and welcoming," Cr Metcalf said.
"Community members recognise that Greater Bendigo is experiencing both the benefits and challenges of growth. We're working hard to advocate for more housing and better facilities to support our expanding population.
"Top priorities identified through community engagement include roads, public and active transport, waste management, and parks and trails. The community understands the importance of creating healthy, liveable places and spaces."
In addition to the Council Plan and Budget, a proposed Rating and Revenue Plan 2025-2029 and proposed Financial Plan 2025-2035 will also be considered for adoption at the June 16 meeting.
The Revenue and Rating Plan 2025/2029 explains how the City will raise funds to pay for services, facilities and infrastructure. This includes finding the most appropriate and affordable rates approach for Greater Bendigo's residents and businesses. In response to the introduction of the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund in July, the City's 2025/2026 Budget proposes to reduce the rate in the dollar for the farm rate and not increase waste charges for all ratepayers in the new financial year.
The Financial Plan sets out how the City plans to fund the delivery of services to the community in an efficient and sustainable way. The City uses a financial model to forecast and monitor a 10-year financially sustainable projection of how it plans to fund the actions in the Council Plan.
