The City of Ballarat deputy mayor Jim Rinaldi made the comment as councillors considered a council recommendation to make an additional submission to the bill, which has been in discussion since 2015.

The proposed response by council officers queried several aspects of the recent alterations, which include training for candidates, a proposal that petitions signed by 25 per cent of voters would automatically trigger a commission of inquiry, as well as a move to change electoral wards to one-councillor only.

What is the local government bill? Find out here.

Cr Rinaldi said the last proposal risked encouraging corruption. Other councillors were equally scathing of the amended bill.

Across the table from Cr Rinaldi, Cr Belinda Coates called the changes "leftfield additions added by the minister at the 11th hour" while Cr Mark Harris dismissed the proposals an "absolute joke". "What have these peanuts come up with?" he asked.

Cr Ben Taylor joined a chorus of disapproval, dismissing the bill additions as a "brainfart" that ignored the good work that many councils did. He wondered how state government representatives would fare if the same measures were applied to them.

The council's recommendation was universally approved.

Councillors also approved a recommendation last night to re-zone three pieces of council land, including 15 Lake View Court in Ballarat North, Giot Drive in Wendouree including half of the Ealing Avenue Reserve, and a property at 12A Albert Street in Sebastopol.

The Ballarat North and Wendouree properties would be re-zoned as General Residential Zone Schedule 1, while the Sebastopol property will be classified as mixed use zone, which would allow it to be developed for both residential and commercial use.

The latter site had created some controversy earlier in the week with a former mayor of Sebastopol Paul Jenkins writing to The Courier strongly objecting to the possibility of the sale of the land there. Mr Jenkins noted that the property had originally been purchased as a much needed car park for surrounding businesses, and one that was still required.

Terry Demeo, the council's director of environment and infrastructure, emphasised that the re-zoning would not represent a conclusive move to sell the properties and reassured councillors that any future action to put the properties up for sale would be referred to councillors for consideration first.

A move to form a special planning committee which council officers say will modernise and improve the planning decision making process was ushered through last night.

The new committee will meet to consider planning applications once a month. It was not a unanimous decision however. Councillor Amy Johnson spoke against the recommendation, saying that she was "happy with the way things are done currently" and that another meeting would mean more council costs. "We don't need to change the way to do business," she said.

Cr Coates meanwhile said the process would be streamlined with the new committee, while Cr Daniel Moloney welcomed the idea of considering planning applications in a less formal environment. There will be report into the possibility of live streaming after the committee has met three times.

The recommendation also allows liquor licensing matters to be dealt with by council officers rather than by councillors.

A council recommendation to refer a planning amendment for the development of Ballarat Clarendon College to an independent planning panel was rejected last night.

It followed Councillor Mark Harris intervening with an alternative motion to abandon the recommendation entirely. Crs Ben Taylor, Daniel Moloney and Amy Johnson voted against the abandonment, while the other councillors voted in favour.

There will be a dry zone in Victoria Park around the Spilt Milk festival, following the adoption of a police recommendation.

Alcohol will still be sold at a temporarily licensed area within the event. The dry zone will be in place for 72 hours around the festival, which will be held on November 30.

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