Ballarat's love affair with fast food shows no sign of abating with two new large-chain restaurants set to be added - but not everyone is happy.
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A McDonald's is on the way for Delacombe, on the Glenelg Highway across the road from the Delacombe Town Centre and Bunnings precinct, while two KFC stores are under construction on Geelong Road in Canadian and in Lucas.
The McDonald's, believed to be in final planning stages and confirmed to be owned by the Nigro family, will be the city's sixth.
It will be built about three kilometres from the Sebastopol outlet, which is on the corner of the intersection of the Midland Highway.
A fifth McDonald's was opened in Lucas in 2014, with other locations in Wendouree, Bakery Hill and on Sturt Street.
All locations are owned by the Nigro family.
The KFC is Ballarat's fourth, and will be attached to a service station.
It joins other locations in Wendouree, Sturt Street, and Sebastopol, as well as other new restaurants from other burger chains.
It's already incredibly difficult to eat a healthy diet without having more aggressively marketed, more available junk food
- VicHealth's Melanie Chisholm
The new restaurants have drawn concern from health bodies - VicHealth's manager of physical activity, sport, and healthy eating, Melanie Chisholm, said it was "disappointing" to see in a regional community.
"We do know that fast food is pretty aggressively marketed, and there's more and more outlets opening," she said.
"These companies know the more accessible, cheap and easy, the more likely we are to eat them.
"I'm very sorry to hear there's another one opening, VicHealth is concerned, and what we want is access to fresh and healthy food
"It's already incredibly difficult to eat a healthy diet without having more aggressively marketed, more easily available junk food."
While Ms Chisholm said she did not have data for Ballarat to hand, she noted the density of fast food outlets in regional areas was often of concern.
"We should be giving all Victorians the opportunity to eat a healthy diet, and this is often undermined by environmental factors, like fast food," she said.
There is no word on when work will be completed for either restaurant.
McDonald's Australia and KFC Australia were contacted for comment.
Hundreds more jobs in Delacombe
The rapid growth in Delacombe will soon mean more jobs for the area, as major employers plan to open.
The Bunnings Warehouse on Smythes Road will employ about 140 people, according to the company.
It will include a new Trades Centre, and the current centre, which on Waringa Drive, Mitchell Park, will soon close.
All 38 current staff are expected to relocate to Delacombe, the company said in a press release.
While no date has been provided yet, the store is currently being fitted out in preparation for a late July opening.
The $44 million Bunnings project will be among Australia's largest.
Work began on the site, on the corner of Cherry Flat Road, in early 2018, and the handover is expected to be complete by the end of the month.
The Mitchell Park Trades Centre will close the day before the new warehouse opens.
Across the road, the planned McDonald's restaurant is expected to provide at least 100 more jobs, taking the number of people employed by the company to an estimated 700 in Ballarat.
The homemaker's centre behind the Bunnings Warehouse is also under way, with an anchor tenant, Petstock, among business planned to open when it is complete.
A Dan Murphy's bottleshop is also expected to open in the area before the end of the year.
While construction on these retailers is ongoing, infrastructure upgrades are also being planned.
These include traffic lights replacing the roundabout at the Glenelg Highway and Wiltshire Lane intersection.
Correction, June 28:
In the story titled 'More jobs on their way in Delacombe', published Friday, June 27, the wrong Bunnings Warehouse Trades Centre was mentioned as closing.
The Mitchell Park Trades Centre, on Warringa Drive, will close when the new Delacombe centre opens.
The outlet on Creswick Road will not be closing, and will not be affected by the new store.
The Courier apologises for any confusion caused by the error.
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