However, the total cost of the ratepayer funded trip was almost $17,000 less than the original travel costings, estimated to be in excess of $55,000.

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson, Cr Samantha McIntosh and Ballarat City Council general manager of people and communities Neville Ivey were sent to Bad Ischl in Austria to attend the 15^th World League of Historical Cities conference and board meeting in June.

In the days following the controversial decision, the council came under intense scrutiny for voting to send two councillors, instead of one. The council also faced backlash because it had applied for an exemption from the new Victorian rate-cap, which left a $2.5 million hole in the council’s annual budget.  

Council staff flew economy instead of business class in a move which slashed thousands of dollars off their travel expenses. Despite the controversy surrounding the trip, Cr Hudson said great outcomes had been achieved for Ballarat. He said the city was looking to Europe for guidance in its 20 year vision for a bio-energy plant. 

Cr Hudson and Mr Ivey also embarked on a council funded trip to Finland under a memorandum of understanding between VTT Finland and the council for the future development of a bio-energy plant.

Finland is considered a global leader in the bio-energy field. Cr Hudson said he spent a day city which is about the same distance from Helsinki as Ballarat is to Melbourne. People in the city used communal bins which provided seven different waste options.  Cr Hudson said it meant the waste no longer ended up in landfills and instead was used to produce heat and electricity. 

He said the council hoped to replicate elements for its own waste model in Ballarat.

“We do have the potential here in Ballarat, to actually build a waste-to-energy facility that can power through heat and steam,” he said. “That will become a reality hopefully within five years,” 

Cr McIntosh lead a panel of global experts presenting eight heritage studies from councils across the globe at the World League of Historical Cities conference.

“We spoke to representatives from China, Korea and Turkey,” she said. “Each of those countries took our Historic Urban Landscape strategy back to their own countries so we know our strategies are being used to help countries across the world.”