To those who will this weekend be named as the new City of Ballarat’s councillors, congratulations.

Now the hard work begins.

You have been chosen by the people of your ward, because they believe you will give them the best voice.  You are there to advocate and lead on their behalf and ensure the council and its staff is operating in their best interests.  Your success or failure will impact on their lives and the future of the city.

It is indeed an exciting and perhaps overwhelming time but it is also a time of great opportunity

You are now expected to have an understanding of what is expected of a councillor, and good governance.  You are required to be honest, ethical, reliable, approachable and knowledgeable.

We want diverse and strong views, but we have seen how extremism can marginalise, denigrate and divide our people.  

We expect you to bring your views, and those of your ward, to the table. But we also expect you to have considered, respectful debate when a range of views are put forward.

Your job is not necessarily to persuade others to share your views. It is to listen, learn, understand.  To connect and engage.  This much is representation and accountability and then comes real leadership; to make informed and considered decisions about what is in the best interest of our city and all our people. 

This includes making the tough decisions and not simply deferring them to other authorities.

But leadership doesn’t end there, you must ensure the reasoning of decisions is clearly communicated to the people who voted for you. Only in this way will council take the community with it as it gets down to work.

 And there is much work to do; a list of unfinished projects which could be formative in Ballarat’s future and basic services that need improvement. The energy in the community is there but it must be harnessed to overcome a perception of atrophy with council.

As a councillor, your ambition should be to see our city grow and prosper.  To build a stronger community and to do this your role must rise above personality or politics or the fixation with single issues.

The vision that laid out Ballarat’s great boulevards, heritage buildings and open space is needed again. You have been trusted to set the strategic direction and policies for one of the state's most vibrant regional cities, the capital of western Victoria.

The next four years and what you do from Monday will help shape that course. Your community, this newspaper and history will hold you accountable for whether this is a period of regression or an epoch of realised potential for a great city.