David Deutscher is the new Committee for Ballarat chairman-elect.
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Announced on Friday, Mr Deutscher takes over from Nick Beale, and will step up at the annual general meeting on October 8.
Born and raised in Ballarat and now a surgeon, Mr Deutscher is currently the clinical director at the Grampians Integrated Cancer Services.
He said he would approach the role as an "ombudsman, or facilitator, of respectful conversation".
"(The next 30 years) needs conversations from a number of players, from businesspeople, council, local community groups, and the important institutions - government, educational precincts, manufacturing precincts, and medical precincts," he said.
"My experience has been in the past of trying to get people together to have respectful conversations - that's what we require, we're all different, with different persuasions, politics, drivers, but we all need to be in the same room to speak collegiately with the conviction that we can make a difference for all of us in Ballarat, from the youngest to the oldest, from the poorest to the most wealthy."
Mr Deutscher and his wife, who is chairman of the board of Ballarat Grammar, both have a keen interest in contributing to the community.
"I'm at a different phase, I've resigned from private practice so I don't have that intense responsibility or nights or weekends, so this is a good chance to contribute in a different way," he said.
"There's a team (on the Committee) that I think we can work together well.
"We want to see Ballarat as a sustainable and liveable place where people feel connected - connected with each other, through work, through good transport to Melbourne and other regional centres, through meaningful employment and educational opportunities, through good health, and through forward thinking in how we can continue to make Ballarat maintain its liveability as it expands."
In the short term, Mr Deutscher said he will focus on building on current projects, such as fast rail to Ballarat and a regional hub at Sunshine, but also looking at sustainability in housing and employment, particularly in the renewables field.
The Committee for Ballarat is a think-tank made up of community members and businesses which lobbies levels of government to advance the city.
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