It coincides with a visit by one of the major parties to the plans, the North Melbourne Football Club as part of the Australian Football League community camps program.

The commitment of the Kangaroos to Ballarat has been solidified in recent years and the message from its chief executive Eugene Arocca and coach Brad Scott was emphatic – the club wants to play matches for premiership points in our city.

Ballarat should not take for granted the support that North Melbourne has shown to our region.

Yes, there are significant commercial and strategic benefits for the club in committing to Ballarat but the relationship is being built on a strong purpose of giving as much as it wishes to gain.

It’s not every day that an organisation in Australia’s most successful and identifiable sporting code makes such a commitment – as Ballarat City Council recognised back in 2008.

The support of North Melbourne makes the case for a redevelopment of the Eureka Stadium precinct strong but it has also caused some to question its benefits to the wider community.

To this end, what will make the project stronger, and more attractive to federal and state governments, is much more than football.

As The Courier has stated many times in the past six months through the Think Big Ballarat campaign, a redevelopment of the precinct must include new facilities for broad community and sporting use.

It must create a vision which is inclusive and invites wide community participation and support.

As Ballarat saw with the failure of the Civic Hall redevelopment proposal, garnering support for big picture proposals is sometimes difficult and against some ingrained community values.

Traditionally we have asked that proposals answer the “What’s in it for me?” question and must be economically sound to meet the stringent expectations of the public.

This is appropriate but also should not stop Ballarat from reaching for the sky.

The potential benefits of a precinct which encapsulates, sporting, entertainment and community facilities can provide impetus for growth and excitement for the city and Western Victoria as a whole – just as the Kangaroos are offering the Ballarat community this week.