Council announced it would take over the precinct in February this year following a number of board resignations, stating it needed to ensure it had unrestricted access to the facility for the upcoming AFL fixture.  

Deputy mayor Mark Harris said the venue was in the process of being valued and council would likely sign a deal with the club in the next 10 days, at which point ownership of the complex would be transferred to the City of Ballarat. 

While no other parties have expressed interest in taking over the facility, Cr Harris said the venue would have to be put out to tender before being leased.  

“We will arrange that dynamic with North Ballarat and at that time I’d imagine we will be organising an interim arrangement rather than going straight to a tender process,” Cr Harris said. 

He said council would disclose the cost of the purchase once a price had been finalised between the two parties. 

Speaking to The Courier following the resignation of chief executive Bill Mundy on Tuesday, North Ballarat chairman John Nevett said the new board remained focused on working with council to facilitate the acquisition while also reaffirming its commitment to the club’s future in the VFL. 

While the club had been unable to fulfill player payments in July last year, doubts about whether the Roosters would field a side in 2017 were cast aside in December.

While chief executive Justine Linley previously said “one of the stipulations council will be applying is that council has confidence in whoever takes on that lease once we own the facility...(and) they need to be able to field a VFL team,” Cr Harris said VFL representation would not be a requirement of the lease. 

“There would be no will from the council to predicate what they do with their football functions, that's something well and truly outside the control we would impose,” Cr Harris said.