City calls for feedback on draft masterplan for Wolstencroft Reserve

The City of Greater Bendigo is inviting the community to inspect and have their say on a draft Master Plan for Wolstencroft Reserve in Flora Hill.

Drop in sessions to allow members of the community to comment on the plan will be held at Wolstencroft Reserve from 4pm and 6pm Monday September 23 and Saturday October 5, and from 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday October 8.

City of Greater Bendigo Coordinator Public Space Aaron Lindsay said the new draft plan updates the 2008 Wolstencroft Street Park Land Master Plan which was not implemented because an Environmental Audit Overlay was applied to the former landfill site by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

“A remediation plan is now complete and a new master plan has been developed in consultation with local residents of the area,” Mr Lindsay said.

“The draft master plan includes a path network with a main path from Havlin Street East to Wolstencroft Street along with secondary loops for exercising and linking key elements of the reserve.  

"It includes a large gathering space complete with shelter, picnic facilities, seating, drinking fountain, bike parking and an open lawn area featuring fun goals for informal sports and activities.

“The draft plan expands on the existing play space to cater for children of all ages and includes a new pump track complete with pump bumps, rollers and berms and a social area for pump track users.

“It also includes the development of a centrally located “lookout” observation point complete with seating and a connection to the play space."

In addition the plan presents two options for Havlin Street East. 

The first option incudes the closure of Havlin Street East between Rodney Street and the northern end of the reserve.  This option incorporates the Back Creek Trail within the road reserve to allow for the re-naturalisation of the creek corridor.

The second option would see Havlin Street East remain open but with traffic calming features installed and a continuation of the Back Creek Trail beside the creek.

The draft masterplan can be inspected online at www.bendigo.vic.gov.au   where residents can provide any comments or suggestions they may have by Friday October 11, 2019.