As a council, our organisation has been confronted by challenging circumstances and I acknowledge it has a ripple effect across the whole city.

I led council this week to appoint a highly reputable and independent recruitment agency, Sal Corp, to help us find the best possible interim chief executive.

The successful candidate will prioritise examining the findings of the recent Victorian Ombudsman's report, with a sharp focus on recruitment, purchase card and procurement policies.

Appointing an interim chief executive is the next step forward to allow us, as a council, to get back on with the task of running the City of Ballarat.

As the current COVID-19 pandemic restrictions begin to ease, we are focused on getting our local businesses and community back on their feet after these tough times.

We will also focus on continuing to carry out all the major works and initiatives we committed to when we first began our council term nearly four years ago.

After this council was elected in 2016, we put together our Council Plan 2017-2021: Liveability, Prosperity, Sustainability and Accountability.

This plan outlines the priority projects we want to complete in our four-year term to ensure our community receives the best possible infrastructure, programs and services we can offer.

This week, it was very exciting to announce a Bakery Hill Revitalisation Plan milestone, with the City of Ballarat appointing international design firm Hassell to lead the next stage of this game-changing project.

The design team will also include local design firms PLOT Landscape Architecture and Cardno TGM.

This appointment is a significant step in driving Bridge Mall's renewal as part of the Bakery Hill precinct vision.

The very experienced design team will deliver a project is both sympathetic to the history of the Bakery Hill precinct and creative in its urban design.

It's important we lead by kickstarting the economy once restrictions are lifted.

In the council's draft 2020-21 budget, we have committed to all of our major infrastructure projects started in previous budgets, including the Ballarat Central Library upgrade and implementation of the carbon neutrality and 100 per cent renewables action plan.

We must make sure we have the planning and infrastructure in place to adequately accommodate Ballarat's rapid growth both now and into the future, with a particular focus on the growth zone areas.

Other major projects we have on our list include the Latrobe Street precinct renewal (the former saleyards site), Her Majesty's Theatre redevelopment, the Victoria Park Master Plan, Civic Hall Stage 2 and the Ballarat Integrated Transport Plan.

We have a range of sporting facilities we are carrying out, or planning, major works on including Mars Stadium Stage 2, Eastern Oval Stage 2, the White Flat Recreation Reserve Master Plan and the Wendouree West Recreation Reserve Master Plan, along with completion of the Ballarat Sports Events Centre and the City Oval redevelopment.

This week we also progressed stage two of the Ballarat Fernery project in the Botanical Gardens. This will recreate the original gothic building that showcases south-east Australia's fern varieties for locals to enjoy, and will also be a significant tourist drawcard.

We will provide $2.8 million to support tourism services to make sure Ballarat's visitor economy is able to rebound. The industry supports many local jobs across accommodation, hospitality and our attractions, and as we see government restrictions continue to ease, visitors will again safely visit our city.

We will also provide $2.2 million for economic development initiatives that will help our businesses bounce back as well. This includes building on the success of the Ballarat West Employment Zone with future stages to help provide job stability and economic certainty across the whole region.

We have recently received significant federal government funding through the Local Road and Community Infrastructure Program.

This will help us to create road projects which boost our economy and support local jobs. Road safety and our local road networks will see some improvements, too.

We continue to advocate and lobby for our municipality and our region, particularly around upgrades to the Ballarat Airport, funding to complete the Ballarat Link Road to the Glenelg Highway, an Intermodal Freight Hub, a Ballarat Innovation Centre and a Waste to Energy facility.

As a council, our focus is to lead the strategic direction of Ballarat as we start to ease slowly back into some semblance of normality post COVID-19.

It's been a difficult time over the past few months and weeks and we, as a council, are committed to stay focused on running the city with integrity.

I want to lead the City of Ballarat into a position of stability post-COVID-19 where we continue to provide our 80 services and where we lead a very strong economic and social recovery of our community.

Cr Ben Taylor is Ballarat mayor