In 2012 plans for a five-storey apartment complex on the former school site were given the green light, however works never commenced. 

The plan to transform the block into an 80-space car park was given the go-ahead in November 2017 after passing a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal appeal. 

Ballarat City mayor Samantha McIntosh said the Lyons Street North development would provide a boost to CBD parking in the short term, while council continued to explore the potential of a multi-storey park on Creswick Road.  

“The pair of those together will be of great benefit to local drivers,” Cr McIntosh said. 

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The permit allows the site to be used as car parking for five years, with the option of extending further.  A building on the site is also expected to be demolished. 

The plan comes as the council grapples with a string of major infrastructure projects which will remove parking options from the Ballarat CBD. 

Dozens of angled and central parks are set to go as part of a $7 million face lift to Mair Street which is expected to begin later this year, while more than 100 parks are set to be lost at the Civic Hall site as part of the state government’s $47.8 million GovHub project. 

As part of the development $2 million will be given to council to create 1000 new CBD parks.

Ballarat City chief executive Justine Linley said while council was actively seeking to implement its Car Parking Action Plan, drivers should expect to pay for parking. 

“The reality is anything now unless it’s on street outside of our main grid is likely to have some fee attached to it, whether it’s privately operated paid parking or on-street metred parking,” Ms Linley said.  “That comes because Ballarat’s changing and we’re not a city of 60,000 people any more, were a city of over 100,000.”