The newly adopted Council Plan Mir wimbul 2025-2029 outlines how Council will guide Greater Bendigo's growth and wellbeing over the next four years, with strong community voices at the heart of its development.
The Council Plan is a comprehensive blueprint for improving and developing Greater Bendigo over the next four years and includes the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. It guides all the detailed plans and activities in Greater Bendigo.
For the first time, the Budget and the new Council Plan have been developed at the same time ensuring alignment between the goals of the Council and the sustainable financial planning and actions for the Budget 2025/2026 and the next three Budgets.
The Council Plan also informs the Financial Plan 2025-2035, the Revenue & Rating Plan 2025-2029, and the Annual Budget. These documents were all adopted at last night's Council meeting.
Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said she was proud to present the new Council Plan.
"A fantastic collective effort from the community has gone into developing the Council Plan Mir wimbul 2025-2029. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the many hundreds of people from our diverse community who have given their time to be part of developing this plan. We thank all the partner organisations that have helped create this plan. We gratefully acknowledge the support of both DJAARA and Taungurung Land and Waters Council as representatives of the Traditional Owners of the lands that Greater Bendigo is on," Cr Metcalf said.
"People shared their top priorities on what they value most about living in Greater Bendigo, its challenges and how best to shape its future and this has been reflected in the newly adopted Council Plan.
"To ensure that we put words into action, the specific work that the City will do to deliver this Council Plan is contained in an action plan released annually as part of the Budget. This ensures we have the resources to deliver on our commitments.
"The Council Plan focuses on efficient and sustainable operations that get the basics right. By incorporating the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, we are also focused on creating a welcoming community and healthy environment that supports our people to thrive. The health plan shows how we will work with our health partners to improve wellbeing in Greater Bendigo.
"The four-year Council Plan has been developed following extensive consultation with the Greater Bendigo community, City partners, local stakeholder groups, and Greater Bendigo Councillors that began in late 2024. Public consultation included two community-wide surveys, a series of focus groups, meetings with community representative groups, information from the City of Greater Bendigo's online engagement platform Let's Talk, and customer requests.
"In March 2025, the City hosted a community deliberative panel. Two hundred people registered their interest to take part and 42 people were randomly selected to represent the diversity of the municipality. They included people from over 20 local areas and many different ages, genders and backgrounds. The panel members participated in sessions over three days. Collectively they produced community guidance for Councillors to use when making decisions on behalf of the whole community. They also refreshed the current Community Vision for Greater Bendigo."
The Council Plan is structured around four themes, linked to 12 goals and 34 priorities.
The themes are:
- Responsible - Running an effective, fair, and efficient organisation
- Healthy - Protecting and improving our physical, mental, and environmental health
- Thriving - Managing our growth, including businesses, housing, heritage, and creativity
- Welcoming - Celebrating and including everyone in our community
"I am proud this plan reflects a wide range of community voices and outlines how we'll meet future challenges. It's about getting the basics right while building a healthy, inclusive, and thriving Greater Bendigo," Cr Metcalf said.
