The state government risks turning the rapidly growing western suburbs into "ghettos" and halting plans for decentralisation unless a new airport rail tunnel connecting Sunshine to Southern Cross is built, according to the Committee for Ballarat's chief executive Michael Poulton.
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Speculation has intensified over the state government's looming decision to build a new tunnel, which could be used by faster regional trains in the future as well as allowing direct services to the airport, or to use existing infrastructure, by including the Melbourne Airport Rail Link in the Melbourne Metro tunnel currently under construction.
A state government spokeswoman said all options are being assessed.
"We're working closely with the Commonwealth Government on all options for Airport Rail - that will get people to and from the airport quickly with minimal interchanges," she said in a statement.
"All options being assessed for the Airport Rail will stop at Sunshine for connections to Victoria's major regional lines, such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo."
All options will allow for direct services into the city and from the airport with an interchange at Sunshine.
Mr Poulton said planning for growth now, with the right transport infrastructure - like a tunnel enabling faster rail - was the key to supporting Melbourne's growth and bringing more opportunities to Ballarat.
"You've got this incredible growth on Melbourne's fringe, and if you look at Melton, Wyndham Vale, and Sunbury, you've got 60 per cent growth, that's scary numbers in a 15 year period," he said.
"You can continue to allow that growth unfettered, and just keep pressing the boundaries of Melbourne, which means people commute from further and further away.
"The risk is that you create ghettos because the socio-economic conditions associated with those settlements aren't great, and the statistics will show you that, or, you can focus on regionalisation, moving people out of the city into regional areas, (which) promote growth in regional areas, and generates a different liveability environment."
The growth into Ballarat can be managed comfortably with enough forward planning, he added - the liveability of regional cities should not be threatened.
"I accept that there is concern that Ballarat's growth will be unmanageable - people deal every day with car parks, turning right into Gillies Street, the congestion we see in and around the city, and they don't see a way to manage that with twice the population," he said.
"So we have to be good, as city leaders, in planning for that growth and showing that it is possible to be a city of 200,000 people in 15, maybe 20 years.
"Let's not think that regional fast rail is going to mean we'll become a dormitory suburb of Melbourne - we won't have masses of people travelling to Melbourne every day, we'll have a percentage of them, and those people will come back to town and still spend their money, still volunteer in local sport, they still do all the things they'd otherwise do, they'd just work remotely.
"We can foresee this coming so let's plan for it now."
Mr Poulton said he's concerned the state government may have already made its mind up, despite a $7 billion offer from a private firm to build and operate the tunnel.
"If it's (the Metro tunnel), that's not better for Ballarat, it's not better for the western suburbs, and it's not better for the airport," he said.
Outside of the city, the state government has invested $100 million in the Western Rail Plan, aiming to improve services to Melton and eventually add more tracks for regional services, while the $500 million Ballarat Line Upgrade rebuilt several stations and added extra passing loops for V/Line services.
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