The project, if approved, will be one of a small but growing number of developments in the city offering medium density housing in an existing area.

Plans are currently on advertising for the development to the east of Ballarat in an area that is often overlooked as a hub of construction in the city - but where work on a number of new housing estates is underway.

One of the key strands of the Ballarat planning strategy is the push for a balance of infill development - within existing residential areas - and greenfield building.

While the aim is to ensure development in the urban growth zones is equal to building within the city, figures suggest most new houses are being built to the west of the city.

The proposed development in Canadian is in an existing residential area where the amount of vacant, developable land is dwindling fast. The main access points to Canadian development would be in Rodier Street and Spencer Street (planning documents list the development as being at 217 Joseph Street).

Building works in the immediate area include another smaller set of townhouses in the adjoining road.

The 35 homes planned are described as being in 10 separate pods, which each have three or four residences within. All of the dwellings are described as three-bedroom. Most of the homes - 25 in total - would measure 200 square metres or smaller. The smallest would be 162 square metres and the largest 386 square metres.

Under the plans put forward, works would take place in four stages. Developers propose building a common road to give access to the dwellings, linking Spencer Street and Rodier Street. The latter has only recently been constructed.

Under the planning scheme, homes measuring less than 400 square metres must include 25 per cent as a garden area. The total land area is 9,431 square metres, with planning documents saying that 35.4 per cent of that would be garden.

The proposal differs from much of the extensive construction work in Ballarat where the vast majority of new residential works have been standalone homes.

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Every part of the city has substantially increased the amount of housing in the past few years, with the exception of the CBD where the population has been in decline. That has partly been attributed to more houses being adapted for use in the health precinct around Drummond Street.

Most of the new homes being built are in the Delacombe and Alfredton statistical areas.

In Alfredton, every single new building of the 476 approved so far this year has been for a standalone house, while in Delacombe the figure was 458 of the 469 new residences signed off.

In the local government area as a whole, building approval data up to March this year shows 1209 new houses approved, and 136 further homes categorised as "other residential building" (ie not houses).

The Canadian development is within the Ballarat South statistical area. While most building approvals here have been for standalone houses, there were 23 for "other" residential buildings, which is a higher percentage than any other area apart from the CBD.

Other high-profile infill developments include the extensive development now underway at the former Ballarat orphanage site off Victoria Street, as well as the Marvella Heights project at St Paul's Way in Bakery Hill.

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Also within the CBD, the building of the 27-apartment Nightingale project is now well underway. Several floors of the five-storey building are clearly visible below the H.Troon crane involved in the construction at its Davey Street location.

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