It will be used to justify the decision of the council in the past and potentially in the future.

The results are not a surprise given the outpouring of dissent from many individuals and groups that marked the planning process but it also gives the council options when it considers what happens with the site.

The report shows that the majority of respondents want to see the current Civic Hall retained and re-used. The report also found significant support for demolishing the hall and considering other options. Indeed, the survey shows that more than 50 per cent of respondents would support demolition with re-use options.

What they wouldn’t support is a council facility as part of that redevelopment. It proves that a mix of the council’s initial vision to re-energise the site with development would be supported.

How the council chooses to use the report in determining the future course will be intriguing.

It can now confront the project with a sense of certainty about how any future proposal will be perceived by ratepayers.

This should not be the only reason for decision-making on any project. Large projects also need to be judged on the benefits to those who pay for it and those who use it. The underlying themes of growth, progression and improvement must be considered.

Most frustrating, perhaps, is that the information contained in the survey is available now, after so much time, effort and money went into formulating the doomed proposal.

It is possible that no one could predict how the community would react to the council’s proposal and that the evidence collected about public sentiment during the past two years could be discredited.

Had a survey been conducted at the start of the council term, there’s little doubt that the process, direction and outcome could have been different.

It’s an easy criticism to make from the outside and it is not in the best interests of Ballarat for the council to undertake polling on every project it must or should undertake but then again, not every project is as contentious as the future of the Civic Hall site.