Villawood renews bid to open Ravenswood land for 3,000 Bendigo homes

Villawood has renewed its push to open land at Ravenswood, south of Bendigo, for about 3,000 homes, ahead of a business seminar in Bendigo on Tuesday 20 October, the Bendigo Advertiser reported on 17 October 2026. The campaign to unlock the site is one the developer has run for several years, and it has not secured a planning outcome yet.

Why it matters

Bendigo Advertiser reports Villawood wants government and council support to open the Ravenswood land, rather than reporting a lodged application or a permit decision. That distinction matters here: this is a developer campaign for land release, not a planning record with a determining authority attached, so there is no permit stage to report. Villawood’s pitch leans on a regional growth figure. The outlet reports Bendigo is forecast to grow by 87,000 people over the next 30 years, and frames the Ravenswood land as a way to get ahead of that growth rather than fall further behind it.

Managing director Rory Costelloe put the shortfall in direct terms, telling the Bendigo Advertiser: “Bendigo is running way behind on its housing targets.” The remark is Villawood’s framing of the region’s housing supply, not a finding from a council or state housing statement.

The timing is deliberate. Villawood’s renewed push lands just before Be.Bendigo’s Unboxed business seminar at La Trobe University Bendigo on 20 October, where economic futurist Evan Lucas is the keynote speaker, giving the developer a regional business audience days ahead of the event.

The numbers

Bendigo Advertiser’s report sets out the scale of what Villawood is proposing at Ravenswood:

• About 3,000 homes, which Villawood says could house more than 10,000 people.
• A claimed $2 billion contribution to the local economy, an estimate from Villawood rather than an independent costing.
• Bendigo’s population is forecast to grow by 87,000 people over the next 30 years, the context figure Villawood cites for why the land should open sooner.
• Community and water infrastructure is part of the pitch: Villawood says Ravenswood would be Bendigo’s first community built with recycled water, with surplus water able to go to the Harcourt orchards.

The report does not give a site area in hectares, a project timeline, or a cost per lot, and this article does not add figures beyond what the outlet published. No permit application, planning scheme amendment, or structure plan record accompanies the report, so the 3,000-home figure describes Villawood’s proposal, not an approved yield.

What’s next

The near-term marker is 20 October, when Be.Bendigo’s Unboxed seminar gives Villawood a regional business audience just as its Ravenswood campaign resurfaces in local coverage. Beyond that, the open question is whether the renewed push moves from a developer campaign into a formal planning process, such as a precinct structure plan or a rezoning request lodged with the City of Greater Bendigo or the Victorian Planning Authority. Until a record of that kind exists, the 3,000-home figure and the $2 billion estimate remain Villawood’s own numbers, not a council or state assessment.

Bendigo’s housing pressure is already visible elsewhere in the city: a draft Maiden Gully framework sets a council target to double medium-density housing stock within 15 years, the same growth pressure Villawood cites for Ravenswood. This report credits the Bendigo Advertiser’s original reporting and relies on its figures throughout; no additional record was found to confirm or expand on them within the time available for this edition.