Despite taxpayer funding and public concern, Bendigo Council is withholding the Showgrounds master plan and proceeding with a redevelopment based on unfulfilled consultation promises, writes Dale Webster.
This is part two of the story; for part one, click here.
The master plan
The one missing document remains a copy of the Bendigo Showgrounds Master Plan and Business Case.
It was not included in this release of documents under Freedom of Information, even though both a draft copy and the final report were sent by council to the department as part of the reporting requirements for the grant.
The City of Greater Bendigo is still disputing the release of the master plan under Freedom of Information, haggling over the cover and index pages.
The only public version of the master plan remains the one published by The Regional on 14 April this year, obtained only after a personal $60 membership to the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society was taken out and the request could not be refused.
This followed the City of Greater Bendigo stating that it was not its report to give out.
“The 2019 Prince of Wales Showgrounds Masterplan was a partnership document created by Bendigo Agricultural Society, Development Victoria and had some contribution from the City,” City of Greater Bendigo’s Manager of Customer Engagement and Communications, Brooke Pearce, said on 20 March.
Pearce added:
“The site is managed by the Bendigo Agricultural Society and I recommend you direct your enquiries to their committee.”
Emails to the show society from The Regional requesting a copy of the master plan went unanswered.
After being approached by several ratepayers, residents and stakeholder groups concerned about the upgrades planned for the showgrounds, the Victorian Residents and Ratepayers Association wrote to City of Greater Bendigo Chief Executive Andrew Cooney on 25 March, requesting a copy of the master plan to help it “better understand the clearly articulated frustration and confusion over this project’s processes and procedural integrity”.
More than six months later, the association says it is still waiting for a reply.
As previously reported in How the Bendigo showgrounds project became a sports rort (without the sport), there are good reasons the master plan has never seen the light of day.
The “deep and extensive community consultations” promised by the City of Greater Bendigo in return for a large slab of taxpayer money never eventuated.
On examination, the master plan reveals that stakeholder engagement consisted of just two workshops (one with City of Greater Bendigo staff and the other with the show society executive), a phone call about the Swap Meet, discussions with Energy Breakthrough and cycling clubs about potential future use and a SurveyMonkey poll that attracted just 21 responses.
There appears to have been no “Project Control Group” and if there was, none of the stakeholders cited in the funding application, other than the Council, the Show Society and Development Victoria, were represented.
This is not just a case of inadequate or poor consultation — the essential engagement with user groups and community that was expected from this project, because of commitments given by the City of Greater Bendigo, was not undertaken.
2025 redevelopment
At 6 PM on 18 March this year, 13 Bendigo Showgrounds stakeholders joined an online webinar run by Development Victoria that they believed was part of the opening consultation round for a major redevelopment of the site.
The project, it was explained, was among 60 being delivered by Development Victoria as part of the Regional Sports Infrastructure Program, with the showgrounds redevelopment one of three in Bendigo.
The key elements of the showgrounds project would be a new pavilion, an arena upgrade and upgrades to existing entries and fencing.
Development Victoria project director Amanda Harris told the group that the Government had been working closely with the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society and City of Greater Bendigo and that “both really understand the community needs and how this infrastructure should be best utilised”.
She made reference to “the types of different events that will be able to be held on the revitalised arena” and said the project was “responding to the need to plan build and operate community sport and active recreation infrastructure within the Bendigo region”.
Development Victoria project manager Leanne Longmuir then addressed the group to explain the finer details of the project.
Ms Longmuir informed the group that tenders for the project had already been shortlisted and an application for planning approval under clause 52.3 of the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme (State Projects) had been submitted.
Then, under questioning, despite assurances that the arena size would not change, it was revealed that the usable area was going to be significantly cut by the removal of the sand track around the perimeter and repositioning of the fence six metres in from its current location.
At this point, things started to go pear-shaped for the presenters.
“Are you able to tell us who you have consulted regarding the horse area?” the panel was asked.
Ms Longmuir put the responsibility for this onto the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society, saying she did not know if it had consulted with equestrian users.
The panel was then told how the removal of the track and repositioning of the fence would make the arena area less functional and asked if the arena works were “up for negotiation?”
Kathryn Dugdale, a senior project manager with Sport and Recreation Victoria, answered:
“The scope of works is currently set, which includes the repositioning of the fence.”
The panel was then asked:
“If the scope of works has already been set, why is this being called a consultation process?”
The answer came from Amanda Harris.
It was a rambling statement, but in essence, she said Sport and Recreation Victoria, the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society and the City of Greater Bendigo were in the best position to understand community needs, so Development Victoria had worked with them to determine the main scope items for the project.
She said the consultation process was just for tweaking and refining minor elements, and Development Victoria would talk to the Show Society about the feedback it was receiving.
Development Victoria has provided no other statements on the project.
Responses to media inquiries have come from the Office of the Premier, Jacinta Allan, with a spokesman stating that the funding for the project under the Regional Sports Infrastructure Program was allocated on the basis of previously established need.
This is where we arrive back at the words that open Craig Niemann’s grant application for the master plan funding:
‘It is anticipated the completion of the project will provide a clear pathway forward for the future business operations of the Bendigo Showgrounds and provide the evidence to support decisions to invest in development of the facility.’
Engagement summary
The consultation period for the Bendigo Showgrounds Redevelopment Project ran from 6 March to 3 April 2025.
Community consultation is a requirement of clause 52.3 planning applications, replacing traditional rights to object to and appeal (referred to by the Government as “notice and review”) state projects.
The consultation process is required to be so thorough that all issues are dealt with before the application is lodged.
A report summarising all consultation activities undertaken and how the feedback has been considered and responded to must be prepared for the Minister for Planning.
The consultation report from this project was one of the documents requested from the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) under Freedom of Information.
Only a summary of the Engage Victoria consultation was released, so no information on how the feedback was responded to is available.
According to the summary, the eight “key insights” from community feedback included:
- Opposition to reducing the arena size: Strong concerns that shrinking the arena would negatively impact lure coursing and equestrian events. Many cited safety risks, compliance issues and the potential loss of key events at the showgrounds.
- Importance of the perimeter track (sand track): The track is viewed as essential for safety, warm-ups and as an alternative surface in wet weather. Concerns were raised that removing it would reduce the functionality of the arena and access to competition rings.
- Impact on equestrian and agricultural events: Questions were raised about how the changes would affect the Bendigo Agricultural Show’s horse section, stabling and parking for horse floats. Some equestrian representatives noted they were not consulted before the plans were developed.
- Economic impact on Bendigo: Concerns that reducing arena space and altering facilities could drive equestrian and dog sporting events elsewhere, resulting in lost tourism revenue for local businesses.
- Infrastructure and event accessibility: Feedback emphasised the need for improved power supply, audio systems and better traffic flow at the showgrounds to support major events such as the Bendigo Swap Meet. Some respondents questioned whether new buildings would be viable for hire given current cost constraints.
- Consultation process and transparency: There was frustration that key user groups felt excluded from early discussions and that the consultation appeared to be taking place after key decisions had already been made. Questions were raised about the transparency of the planning process.
The engagement summary is 19 pages and includes all comments and submissions made online, as well as a summary of questions asked during the webinar and drop-in session.
The full document is available for download, but this is just a small selection of the community feedback.
- I’m very sad to hear that without consultation with the many equestrian peak bodies that use Bendigo Showgrounds the arena size will be significantly reduced. Bendigo showgrounds is used extensively by the equestrian community and no doubt brings in quite a bit of revenue when the large shows are held. By reducing the arena size you are making the grounds unworkable and unsafe for warming up and competing in equestrian sport. This is a very disappointing decision to hear about.
- The proposed changes in the project will greatly reduce the abilities of both the equine and dog communities to hold shows, pony club and sporting events. This will in turn decrease revenue to Bendigo on the surrounding areas as people like myself, who travel there for shows and competitions, will no longer be able to as the venue will no longer exist as it currently does.
- Upgrades to the perimeter track of the arena which appears to remove it from the area within the arena boundary is likely to reduce the total arena size below the minimum required for a safe lure coursing field. The lure coursing community value this field highly as one of our primary fields for events during the year and already find it difficult to find suitable spaces to run events.
- Many major horse clubs hold qualifying events for royal shows at this venue. A smaller arena may impact their ability to host and run competitions effectively.
- Reducing the size of the oval impacts lure coursing events, which are held about six weekends a year. The reduced size will impact potential for injury for dogs running at full speed 60km/hr and there will be more chance of running into the fence. The sand around the oval provides a safe run off area preventing injury to dogs.
- Bendigo is one of the few regional grounds suitable for running large horse shows, no other grounds nearby have the combination of stable numbers and arena space required to facilitate these. The complete disregard shown towards smaller community groups shown by Bendigo council with this supposed upgrade is deplorable.
- Removing the sand track in the arena will negatively impact both dog and horse events that use these grounds, most likely rendering the grounds useless for these sporting clubs.
- As a member of the community and a committee member who runs the Bendigo National SWAP Meet, I question the need to remove the ‘Track’. We utilise all that space and I’m sure some of the horse activities with other groups will miss it too. We are struggling to fill the existing BEC and REC buildings due to the cost/value of hiring, so I’m doubtful we can utilise a new building.
It is clear from the feedback that at least one sport – lure coursing – will be lost to Bendigo because of the decision to reduce the size of the arena, as well as the biggest and most lucrative of the equestrian events that require all the arena space that is currently available.
The takeaway from this is that sports infrastructure funding is being used to drive away the only sporting users of the Bendigo Showgrounds.
The full document is a lot for anyone to take in, yet just eight days after the consultation closed on 11 April – just 48 working hours – the Minister for Planning, Sonya Kilkenny, supposedly in possession of the report, quietly approved the planning application.
This is despite Ms Kilkenny also being aware of allegations of grant rorting in relation to sports infrastructure funding being used to build a market shed at the showgrounds instead of a sports pavilion recommended in the master plan.
Development Victoria’s website page on the project has not been updated with the information that planning approval has been granted, nor have stakeholders who registered for updates from the project been notified.
Development Victoria was asked for a copy of the planning permit on 24 September to see if any of the stakeholder feedback has been incorporated into the final works, but the department has not responded.
Here and now
At this point, no one except the City of Greater Bendigo, the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society and the Victorian Government knows whether Victoria’s largest showgrounds arena is about to lose at least 12,000 square metres (three acres) of usable space.
If going ahead, the work to rip up the track will not start until after this year’s Swap Meet is held on 15 and 16 November.
Regardless of whether the Victorian Government has done the right thing and amended its plans in response to community feedback, the showgrounds master plan is going to remain an ongoing headache for it.
Given what has been learnt from the documents released under Freedom of Information, the plan can't be used as evidence of previous stakeholder consultation and if there was no stakeholder consultation, the proposals it contains are nothing more than spit-balling by the council, Show Society executive and Development Victoria.
The plan is not fit for purpose and, now this information has been made public, disrespectful to the showgrounds stakeholders who were named as major partners and then left out of the process.
With a strong bias towards tourism and entertainment at the expense of traditional agricultural activities (recommending stables be replaced with a food and wine area, for example), it also jeopardises the show society’s status as a registered charity under the Agricultural Shows category.
The document needs to be spiked.
As for the behaviour of those involved across this entire exercise, some of the very serious issues raised include:
- the City of Greater Bendigo taking government grant money for commitments it did not deliver;
- the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (Regional Development Victoria) coaching the council in how to fill out the documentation used to evaluate whether council had met the commitments it made to obtain the funding
- the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (Regional Development Victoria) signing off on the grant acquittal despite having evidence in its possession that showed the grant commitments had not been met;
- the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (Development Victoria) submitting a clause 52.3 planning application without community consultation requirements having been met;
- Sport and Recreation Victoria knowingly allocating more than $19 million in sport and active recreation infrastructure funding for a non-sports infrastructure project and ignoring sport infrastructure needs at the same venue;
- the City of Greater Bendigo failing to respond to ratepayer questions about the expenditure of ratepayer money;
- the City of Greater Bendigo misleading a journalist over its role in the development of the master plan; and
- the Minister for Planning, Sonya Kilkenny, approving a planning application in full knowledge that there were integrity issues with the funding and consultation process.
If the Bendigo Showgrounds Redevelopment Project is an example of how the Victorian Government runs its clause 52.3 state projects and any others where “notice and review” rights have been replaced by consultation requirements, every single one needs to be gone through line by line.
It shouldn’t be left to the media to police Victoria's planning system.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission is the appropriate organisation for the job.
UPDATE: A complaint about misconduct related to the Bendigo Showgrounds master plan grant and redevelopment project has been lodged with IBAC.
Dale Webster is an inaugural recipient of a Walkley Foundation Grant for Freelance Journalism on Regional Australia. This article was originally published on The Regional and has been republished with permission. You can follow Dale on Twitter @TheRegional_au.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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