The problem with so many regional centres is that if they are not growing they are going backward, further exacerbating the city-country divide and a two-tiered Australia. 

Ballarat’s population growth of 2 per cent is more sustainable than the gradually unfolding nightmare in Melbourne’s west, which has witnessed increases of around 7 per cent every year. There is a warning in this.

They, too, were happy to unfurl the banners of brand new suburbs – but the open grassy plains and relative proximity to the CBD, housing affordability and ‘lifestyle’ which lured so many families has not been all that it promised. 

Poor planning and even poorer urban design has ensured that these suburbs, like the great tracts of wasteland that are outer Los Angeles, are grimly dependent on car transport.

Commutes strangled by unavoidable congestion now cost the hapless residents far more in time than they ever saved in housing costs. The absence of transport alternatives and pedestrian accessibility compel even the shortest journey to be made by car, reconfiguring the ‘dream’ locality into dormitory suburbs of unpeopled streets with slowly mounting living costs and social isolation. 

Only last week, The Courier was proud to reflect the liveability that has been at the heart of Ballarat’s population growth.

How long it can continue to boast of this advantage over its big-city counterparts will depend on far better planning and action in winning the infrastructure race.

The Western link road – which was once trumpeted as the number one road priority – should serve as a timely example of how iniquitous the pace of such a race can be. 

The link road lurches sluggishly forward in only its first stage while suburbs like Lucas were off and running years ago. For all those gritting their teeth around the streets of Delacombe and lamenting how quiet its roads used to be, this disparity is emblematic of the threat posed to liveability.

Securing that liveable future is about a lot more than names.