FAQs
Corner of Bellevue Road and Breen Streets, Golden Square.
The Golden Square site was identified as a suitable site for the Food Hub by the City of Greater Bendigo back in 2019, and a master plan of the site was developed for the project by Y2 Architecture in collaboration with key stakeholders.
The site was chosen as it is only 2km from the Bendigo city centre, which ensures the food hub is inclusive and accessible by car or public transport for the staff and volunteers that will support the food hub’s operations.
The food hub site is crown land, owned by the Victorian Government and is managed by The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the local Traditional Owners, Dja Dja Wurrung.
Bendigo Foodshare’s warehouse operations is centred around receiving, storing, sorting and distributing food for food relief. Trucks deliver food several times a week to the warehouse and three vans operate to distribute food to partner organisations. Volunteers from our community help us to do this important work.
Increasing demand for food relief across central Victoria has meant we have outgrown our current location in Havilah Road, Long Gully and are planning to develop a new food hub in Breen Street, Golden Square.
Our vision of a food hub is a centralised location where the community can come together to address food insecurity, share ideas, access locally grown produce and learn to cook, grow and share food. We want to develop the hub to become an inclusive and inspiring place where people can access fresh, healthy and cheap food, in a dignified way.
The food hub model is not new and has been replicated in many other countries.
Food hubs provide an integrated approach that achieves multiple and long-lasting benefits, including:
- Increased access to and affordability of healthy, fresh and local produce for vulnerable and low-income residents
- Linking local producers to consumers and food businesses
- Training and employment opportunities for residents
- Business incubation opportunities for new entrepreneurs
- Urban regeneration
Why is Central Victoria getting a Food Hub?
The increasing demand for food relief across Central Victoria has seen Bendigo Foodshare needing to find a bigger space that is more easily accessed by the community to store and distribute food to those in need.
In 2015, the City of Greater Bendigo undertook a feasibility study to establish a regional food hub in Bendigo. The study found Bendigo and central Victoria would benefit from a food hub and identified potential models of operation to provide food to people in need.
Through the success of the Mission Possible funding campaign, Bendigo Foodshare has raised funds to build a new warehouse.
Bendigo Foodshare explored an opportunity to restore a dilapidated warehouse on Garsed Street. However, despite best endeavours from all parties involved, a suitable lease agreement could not be met.
Our builder Fairbrother Construction, will be responsible for ensuring the site is safe.
In 2015 the City of Greater Bendigo undertook community consultation when preparing a feasibility study to investigate the possibility of building a community food hub in Bendigo.
The study found Bendigo and central Victoria would benefit from a food hub and identified potential models of operation to provide food relief to people in need. This paved the way for Bendigo Foodshare to consider how it could be involved in a future food hub as we had been in need of a new home for a long time.
Bendigo Foodshare has an ongoing commitment to engaging with the community.
The City of Greater Bendigo are actively working with the Bendigo Pony Club to assist with their relocation to a suitable new site.
The Bendigo Community Farmers Market has relocated to Dai Gum San precinct, near the Golden Dragon Museum.
The fenced construction site will cover a small portion of the overall site, as detailed in the map below. The construction will be managed by Fairbrother, who are reputable and experienced builders. Construction will occur within days and hours as determined by City of Greater Bendigo building regulations.
The planned construction covers a small footprint relative to the entire property, as outlined in the map below. The rest of the site will remain available to the public for safe recreational purposes.
The Bendigo Community Food Hub is due to start construction early 2023, and will be completed in 2023.
Bendigo Foodshare’s current and expected operating hours are/will be 7am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 3pm on weekends.
During construction, Fairbrother will develop a traffic management plan to ensure that all traffic entering and exiting the premises will be done safely and with minimal disruption to other road users or local residents.
Once open, trucks deliver food several times a week to the warehouse and three Foodshare vans operate to distribute food to partner organisations.
There will be no trucks or other vehicles operating outside of operating hours, being 7am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 3pm on weekends.
Bendigo Foodshare is owned, run and loved by our community, relying on community involvement for everything we do. Visit our website to find out how you can get involved and help out now and when the new Bendigo Community Food Hub is in operation.
Bendigo Foodshare is leading the project and has appointed reputable and experienced local building company Fairbrother Construction to build the new warehouse, which will be stage one of the food hub.
Fairbrother has been involved in a number of local projects and is also working on the Victorian Government’s Galkangu – Bendigo GovHub project.
Bendigo Foodshare new warehouse
Our vision is for a centralised location where the community can come together to address food insecurity, share ideas, access locally grown produce and learn to cook, grow and share food. Our immediate focus is to build a new fit for purpose warehouse to support our food relief efforts.
The below image shows one of the approved architect’s building design.
The below image shows the site location and estimated footprint of the new warehouse.
How can I obtain further information?
This dedicated web page has been developed to keep the wider community informed about the project and will be updated regularly with all of the latest information about the project. For detailed information, please click the FAQs found on the left hand side of this webpage.
We encourage you to follow the Bendigo Foodshare Facebook page where we will also provide updates as construction progresses.
If you have questions that are still unanswered, we encourage you to email us at info@bendigofoodshare.org.au.
You are also welcome to call us on 5444 3409, however, as we are a volunteer-based organisation, we do not expect volunteers answering the phone to be able to answer all queries. If you leave a message and your contact details, our staff will call you back in due course.
How can I obtain information in other formats or languages?
If you require information in another language, large format or in an audio file, please email info@bendigofoodshare.org.au
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