When the appeal was officially launched on June 1st. by the Mayor, Cr Samantha McIntosh, the objective of the appeal was to attract sufficient donations of cash, food items, blankets and clothing to ensure our four major welfare agencies and charities, Uniting Ballarat, Anglicare, the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society would be in a position to provide the necessary level of support to the rapidly escalating number of local families who would require assistance during the cold winter months.

These families are suffering extreme hardship with many being left with no alternative but to turn to our welfare and charities for much needed support.

I am pleased to advise that as a result of the outstanding generosity of the Ballarat area community the objective of the appeal was not only achieved, but surpassed by a considerable margin, and this will be of valuable assistance to the welfare agencies and charities during the months ahead as they continue their outstanding and very necessary support of the many less fortunate families in the Ballarat area.

Whilst the result achieved by the very successful 3BA Christmas in July Appeal is very pleasing it has to be measured against the substantial increase in the number of disadvantaged and battling families who required assistance during winter. Sadly, this number continues to rise very rapidly and this is placing extreme pressure on the resources of the welfare agencies and charities which our appeal supports. It was for this reason that it was essential for the appeal to again be highly successful. 

The generous and caring Ballarat community again ensured the success of the appeal, and your generosity played a key role in reducing the extreme hardship suffered by the many families requiring support during winter. For this I say a very grateful 'thank you.'

Peter Caligari 

We need a 21st century vibrant living CBD. The success of a central business district (CBD) is dependent on people inhabiting and using that space constantly.  A vibrant heart to this city will only happen when we understand how a 21st-century CBD of a city should function. It should be a pulsating, connected, high-density activity centre that consists of a mix of private and public investment that provides accessibility and a diversity of activities. What astounds me is why our Council - and, yes, Committee for Ballarat, Commerce Ballarat and Ballarat Tourism - haven't got this as a priority.

Now that the Civic Hall is going to continue as a permanent fixture in this city, these important organisations should get together to look at the possibility of building a 4.5-star hotel with 100+ rooms on top of the proposed government office block and use the main Civic Hall  as a 3000-square-metre conference function centre when required. Can you imagine a roof top café, restaurant, bar and viewing area overlooking Ballarat?

It is an ideal position and doesn't encroach on residential privacy., nor would it necessarily compete in the same market as existing Ballarat businesses. It is what Premier Andrews promised for the station precinct and instead now we are supposedly going to have what is best described as a subsidised block of flats and a small meeting room that competes directly with existing non-subsidised businesses.

We could also have a central railway station that is a 21st-century transport hub for the city that has uncluttered public space and could be one of Ballarat's future meeting places. Ballarat is one of the rare regional cities that has its station adjacent to the CBD. This is the 21st century, yet more happened in the 19th century for Ballarat in terms of its position as a leading-edge regional city. 

Ron Egeberg, Soldiers Hill