The majority of residents are expected to back the suburb, which would be put to the community for consultation and name suggestions if supported by the council tomorrow.

In their recommendation to councillors, City Infrastructure staff said it was necessary to create a new name, as allowing Delacombe to grow unchecked could result in it becoming too large.

They expect positive reactions from about 1000 existing Delacombe residents who stand to gain a new identity by way of a new suburb name.

“It is expected that while the majority of residents will be supportive of the changes, there could be some resistance from areas that have previously identified as rural now becoming part of a more urban identity,” a report by city infrastructure staff states.

The report notes that a similar project conducted by another, unnamed, regional council attracted large-scale submissions.

The new suburb would be bound to the east by Wiltshire Lane, to the west by the

future Ballarat Western Link Road, to the south by the Glenelg Highway and to the north by the Ballarat-Carngham Road.

City infrastructure general manager Eric Braslis said while it was still early days, the new suburb would feature shopping, community and potential school precincts, similar to Ballarat’s newest suburb, Lucas.

He said a number of landowners were involved in the new growth precinct.

“... as growth continues further to the south, this is the next precinct we have identified,” he said.

“The purpose right now is to engage the community.”

Mr Braslis said there remained scope to add more new suburbs to Ballarat’s west growth zone in the future.

He said a review of surrounding suburbs would ultimately to determine “if we need to redesign those boundaries or develop new suburbs”.

Explaining the need for the changes, city infrastructure staff said Ballarat’s western suburbs were experiencing rapid population growth.

Ballarat’s Western Growth Area would eventually provide about 18,000 new houses to more than 40,000 people on greenfield land west of Alfredton, Delacombe and Sebastopol, their report said.

“The sheer size of the projected population warrants the creation of a new unique suburb, as endeavouring to accommodate this sort of population growth within existing suburbs is not practical and has the potential to cause confusion over addresses and location,”   the report from council staff said.

On Saturday, The Courier spoke to several affected residents in Yorkdale Estate who said they would welcome the change.

rachel.afflick@fairfaxmedia.com.au