Politics & Council
8 July, 2026
Growing pains and visionary hopes
THE tail end of the 20th century was not exactly kind to smaller towns across Victoria.
THE tail end of the 20th century was not exactly kind to smaller towns across Victoria.
Government agencies were closed, taking people and skills out of the social and capital landscape, councils were amalgamated much to the horror of some who wanted to hang onto the vestiges of rural fiefdoms created when gold was just a scratch under the surface and decisions were made in the absence of hope for growth in the future.
Planning schemes were amended and the retail premises once reserved for commercial undertakings lumped in a category that saw many in Loddon communities converted to private homes.
Those making decisions at the time were using the best insights and information at their disposal. Afterall, bureaucrats were among those who saw no future let alone growth for towns “out there in the bush”.
What a difference 40 years has made! Calder Highway towns of Bridgewater, Inglewood and Wedderburn are identified as towns of future growth. The is some current lamentation that “empty shops” in main streets are residences.
The draft town structure plans presented to Loddon Shire Council last month paint a very different picture of the future for Bridgewater and Inglewood. Council promises more town structure plans will appear down the track.
For the two towns separated by just five minutes in the car, the plans may prove conservative in estimating 250 new homes in coming years. The Bridge-
water Rise estate already has more than 30 lots sold and homes being built.
The draft plans for Bridgewater and Inglewood also propose the introduction of a commercial planning zone.
Identified is the obvious need for childcare to be provided in the towns.
But let’s be even bolder and braver for what the future could look like.
Projected growth in Marong will create greater demand for housing in the towns.
Government policies say that good transport access is vital for housing growth. There have been calls in the past that the rail line from Bendigo, at least to Bridgewater, be brought back into service.
The current limited public transport (bus) is hardly the link needed to the regional capital. But then, Marong itself remains without a bus service and that suburb is heading towards a population of five figures.
That would mean greater demand on services at Inglewood and Districts Health Services. Within less than two decades, people living in Marong could be at Inglewood hospital sooner than negotiating a route through built-up areas to Bendigo Health.
Should governments begin to invest more in satellite hospitals like Inglewood and Heathcote to take reduce stress points in Bendigo?
Sensible and appropriate town planning and infrastructure development can have a lag time of 20 years.
That makes the draft town structure plans for Bridgewater and Inglewood all the more important.
Already people have been prepared to dream, they have freely discussed the challenges currently faced by their local communities.
The final plans must be documents to support, encourage and make possible growth into the future.
They must not be documents that inhibit success, hinder development and retard progress.
It can be easy to say no when there is change on the horizon. Yet, with the rate of growth seen in Bendigo since the 1980s, it has been only a matter of time before people looked to Loddon communities for a new home and better lifestyle.
That time emerged with a degree of maturity during Covid and has since shown few signs of being halted.
The town structure plans represent opportunity for Loddon Shire and the communities to plan well and avoid the growth pains evident in larger cities.
Get this right and we will see more students in our schools, a larger pool of potential participants in sporting clubs and, of course, vibrant retail strips the envy of other towns.
Let these plans truly reflect the heritage and social fabric that have ensured the lifestyle forged in the days of gold are given a contemporary feel and a future where growth is more than hope, it is reality.
Read More: Loddon Shire