The story noted 106 of the 134 shop owners and and occupiers were in favour of the proposal, without a single objection.

This was of course the heyday of pedestrian malls when they were favoured in almost every city and larger regional town, as planners and councils grappled with the difficulties of the influx of universal car ownership.

But it was also worth noting that at the time the population of Ballarat was barely higher than 66,000 and had been stagnating for years.

These were also the days when the prospect of large scale suburban shopping centres with limitless parking were only an emerging idea and the concept of the doughnut effect which would blight so many U.S. cities was not yet muttered about.

But fast forward fifty years and Ballarat has a vastly different story to tell.

It took less than fifty years to add 50,000 people to this population and on current trends, a growth point that took 120 years will now double in half that time.

And all this is having a major effect on how people use and feel about the CBD. The shift in opinions on the efficacy of a pedestrian mall have certainly come 180 degrees as the Bridge Mall and other 'lower city' locations continue to languish with too many vacancies and not enough people.

The critical factor, as always, is about people and opening Bridge Mall to traffic alone won't provide that magic panacea. It is, as the council's Urban Renewal Project shows, only a small part of the plan for rejuvenation.

That is why some of the broad concepts, despite being some of the more radical Ballarat has seen, are worth consideration and investigation. Underpinning these is a key directive to have people not only visiting the CBD but even live there.

The idea of 5000 people living in the CBD seems extraordinary but the same could be said of a dozen other cities that in the space of decades have turned dying centres into thriving hubs.

The issue is making that CBD a desirable place to live and be and gaining the critical mass that not only gives it vibrancy but self-sustains businesses and events.

Of course it comes at a cost to tradition. You can almost hear the howling now at the prospect of replacing carparks with parks or apartments. The inverse is to do nothing and those same carparks may end up empty anyway.

These are of course only ideas at this stage but if the community wants to shape that future rather than have it thrust upon it; it is a realm of ideas they need to enter into.

As always our job is provoke this discussion by keeping you informed, so here are just some of the stories worth reading if you care about that future.