AN EXTRA 200 Melbourne-based jobs will be moved to Ballarat if the Coalition is re-elected at November’s poll and moves the VicRoads headquarters to the Civic Hall site.
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The boost takes the total number of jobs that would be relocated to Ballarat to 600, and was announced by Premier Denis Napthine on Friday.
However, the change has outraged the Australian Services Union, who hit out at the announcement.
ASU organiser Tash Wark said that on Wednesday she met VicRoads management who gave no indication of the change.
Ms Wark said she was seeking clarification from VicRoads on the issue after being told that no concrete decision had been made.
“The consultation is not occurring properly,” she said.
“Employees are being used as the meat in a political sandwich and members are pretty concerned about the whole thing.”
Dr Napthine said VicRoads had undertaken a detailed analysis of staffing requirements and locations.
“This analysis led to the conclusion that further corporate functions and the contract centre could be relocated to Ballarat, representing an additional 200 positions,” he said.
Dr Napthine said he believed staff would be “very positive” about the move to Ballarat.
“I expect a lot of them will move,” he said.
“The real challenge now is for the City of Ballarat and the community to engage with VicRoads personnel and show them the options and choices, and when people see the options here in Ballarat, good affordable housing and the accessibility of sporting facilities, great schools and health facilities, they will see this is a really terrific place,” he said.
Dr Napthine estimated as many as 80 per cent of the employees would permanently relocate.
“We are assuming there would be substantial relocation in the next term of government if we are re-elected,” he said.
“We would get onto the job straight away, we would be building a purpose-built building here and would be building that within the first year or two years from the beginning of that process.”
Dr Napthine would not say how much funding would be included in next year’s budget for the move.
Funds to help clubs
PREMIER Denis Napthine’s visit to Ballarat included a variety of funding announcements for sporting facilities across the city.
The Mount Clear Recreation reserve received $100,000 from the state government and $250,000 from the City of Ballarat to construct unisex player and umpire change rooms.
The facility will also gain first aid and store rooms.
In a similar announcement Dr Napthine provided $80,000 to combine with $120,000 from the City of Ballarat for new competition-standard lighting at Russell Square South Oval.
Both announcements are fully funded and not dependant on the result of November’s election.
City of Ballarat mayor John Philips said he was pleased with the announcements and that many of the projects would not have been able to be completed if not for the funding from the government.
Cr Philips said the announcements meant a lot to the people who had worked hard to achieve the upgrades.
“I think this gives them so much heart to continue on,” he said.
“For the young ones in particular to see funding announcements, the parents and friends who get in behind the scenes and do all the fund-raising, they must just be so stoked about it.”
As reported in The Courier on Friday, the Premier also announced $50,000 towards the design and planning of a new motorsports facility in the Ballarat region.
This will be combined with $40,000 from the City of Ballarat.
matthew.dixon@fairfaxmedia.com.au