Bev Lovett has seen a lot happen in Sebastopol through the years, but she's worried it's being abandoned.
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Wearing a Burras mask, she said the $5 million Spotlight on Sebas funding was promising, but she and other older residents were horrified by the loss of the township's post office last year, and by banks removing physical branches.
"Our seniors think they've been forgotten," she said.
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"The bank said it had to close because people are not using it, they're using online banking, but older people do not do that - some have had to because the bank's gone, not the other way around, and a lot of people around here are not happy about that."
Ms Lovett is the secretary for the Sebastopol Senior Citizens Club, which has more than 70 members that meet regularly at its Vickers Street centre.
Inside, there's the timber floors and meeting rooms, and it's close to Ballarat Community Health and the Sebastopol Men's Shed, with the main street and library a short walk - or gopher ride - away.
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"Senior citizens are the main occupants of the building, Wednesday's our main day, we have bowls, bingo, arts and crafts, cards," Ms Lovett explained.
"There are the Sebastopol Girl Guides and junior girl guides, the Lions Club occasionally has a meeting here, Community Health runs exercise classes here, there's also a church group that uses it.
"Our space is okay, but the building's not in good condition."
The centre is the last piece of the puzzle for creating a one-stop community hub for the area, and council is making its redevelopment a priority.
Ahead of the next state and federal elections, the City of Ballarat has been unrolling its list of priorities - duplicating Dyson Drive, a new, bigger animal shelter, among others - and pitching more developed ideas and plans to politicians.
Sebastopol is like many other established areas of Ballarat where residents can sometimes feel left behind by growth areas, where council and other levels of governments are rushing to install infrastructure and services, and the residents themselves begin grassroots efforts to bring more attention their way.
Ms Lovett said the club was realistic about the plans for a new building, which could include expanded space and a kindergarten.
"Because it's hard to get funding for just a senior's club, it'll end up being a multi-purpose building for other groups as well, and our seniors have come to agree with that - we can't have it just for us, we'll share it with other people, and that'll be fine as long as we have the room to do things we want to do," she said.
"Our older seniors that are here now helped raise the funds that built this place - quite a few have passed on, but there's still a few left who remember the old days when they raised a lot of money to help get this building going.
"People like the central location here, it's really good, though there were other suggestions made that weren't nearly as convenient for a lot of people, and quite a few of our members are in care, so it has to be somewhere that people can get to easily."
The City of Ballarat's chief executive Evan King concurred, saying the key to a growing city was equity in services - the Sebastopol Senior Citizens centre was a good example.
"It's really important we ensure the benefits of growth are spread across the whole city," he said.
"It's important they have the facilities that make them feel safe and make them be able to get together.
"Sebastopol's one of those communities that's very close-knit, but you can see from the facility, it's past its use-by date - a modern, accessible, multi-purpose facility in Sebastopol is a project we're really passionate about, and we're looking for some state or federal funding to deliver it."
Early studies and concept designs have already been completed, including a detailed quantity surveyor's estimate, and council expects the project will cost about $8.5 million to complete, with council contributions.
On Friday, Mr King and Ms Lovett showed federal Ballarat MP Catherine King around the centre, making a pitch for funding.
As shadow minister for regional development, she said the council's focus on community equity was a plus, as other councils began making submissions ahead of a potential election announcement.
"We know that suburbs like Sebastopol, Wendouree, Learmonth, they've been around for more than 100 years, they're changing, and their infrastructure needs are changing," she said.
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"While we need to concentrate on new areas like Lucas, and as Alfredton grows, we also have to make sure we're looking after these suburbs as well.
"This is a good opportunity for council to do that and being really organised is just so helpful, and putting my shadow minister for regional development hat on, it's critical - there are councils who are really good at advocacy, and I see some that are a little underdone.
"I think having a very structured priority list, business cases done, very clear costings (is helpful) - knowing what you want is half the battle, then it's my job to get it funded."
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