THE $4.2 million facelift of Ballarat’s Eastern Oval is a step closer to fruition after the City of Ballarat rubber stamped master plans for the development.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ballarat city councillors unanimously voted to approve moving ahead with public consultation on the 10-year master plan designed for the site.
However, former Ballarat mayor John Barnes voiced concerns surrounding the level of engagement the council had undertaken with the community prior to the designs being drawn up for the site.
“To date, the community has been excluded from consultation,” Mr Barnes said.
“The plans have alluded to the joint use of car parks, but the current plans don’t really spell any of that out.
“It doesn’t tell us how many car parks there will be or what hours those car parks are likely to be used for ...”
Demolishing existing cricket training facilities and developing a multipurpose training centre have already been mooted as high priorities in the plan.
The refurbishment includes plans to utilise more vacant space by relocating and integrating a netball court and amenities into the reserve on land now occupied by the cricket nets.
An ailing public toilet block near the Peel Street entry will be demolished and $360,000 will be spent on terraced seating and standing-room areas for spectators.
An additional $305,000 will be used to provide a pedestrian plaza between the existing timekeeper’s box and football club rooms to improve spectator amenity and pedestrian access.
The master plan is expected to be exhibited for a period of 30 days in the coming weeks.