Construction on the $1 million Buninyong Streetscape Project will begin on Monday with upgrades to Warrenheip Street and Learmonth Street.

The primary focus of the project is to improve accessibility in the area to both motorists and pedestrians with car parks and footpaths to be levelled out, along with increased parking and community spaces.

Twelve angled parking spots will be available on Warrenheip Street, along with a new bus stop, landscaping and outdoor seating while the service lane on Learmonth Street will be improved with realigned parking and a new exit to Learmonth Street with the old Warrenheip Street exit closed and turned into a public space with new landscaping.

One of the main objectives of the project is to reduce the steep crossfall of the roadway and nature strip to improve pedestrian access and safety with the existing ground to be excavated and flattened.

READ MORE: Upgrades on the way at Warrenheip and Learmonth streets

The works were designed by local consultants and tendered to Ballarat-based Enoch Civil for construction following community consultation.

The majority of negative feedback was concerned with retaining the current position of the bus stop, but council said relocating the stop was not possible because of impacts on other businesses and its proximity to the town centre.

Concerns were also raising regarding the removal of six trees but council said the trees had poor structural form from years of pruning around powerlines, with seven new trees are to be planted in their place.

The project is being funded with $651,000 from council's 2021-22 capital works program, $300,000 from the state government, $100,000 from the Bendigo Bank Buninyong branch and $28,000 from Public Transport Victoria for bus stop improvements.

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South ward councillor Ben Taylor said the project was a long time coming.

"This project goes right back to when the community came up with the concept to improve the streetscape in that area, make it more user-friendly because it's not the greatest trying to get out of your car with the shops there and even from a traffic point of view, to neaten it up and make the parking better, is going to make a big improvement," he said.

"When you look at the street, there's a whole mish-mash of things that are there from footpaths, to nature strips sloping down to the car parks, you pull into the car park which is in downhill, then you've got to go uphill into the shops, even the cafes and shops, everything there is not flat, so making more flat spaces, cleaning up the sight lines, cleaning up any hazards that are along there and making it more accessible for everyone, that's what it's about."

Cr Taylor said while there would be disruptions, they were hoped to be minimal.

"There will be disruptions, but Buninyong is small enough that we can manage that, whether it's just parking around a corner and walking through or, depending on where it is, you could even get through the back lane as well, you can drive through there and park. Worst case scenario in Buninyong is just a drive around the block and you're right to go again."

Committee for Ballarat chief executive and Buninyong resident Michael Poulton said it was good to see council's work in activating public spaces extended to the township.

"There are two things that are really critical. One is just the improved safety of the streetscape. There's a fair bit of work to be done to align footpaths and take away some of the steep banks that are around the car parking area, so that's really important from a safety and accessibility perspective that there's a better alignment of the streetscape," he said.

"The second thing I think that's really exciting is that we're starting to see the replication of more outdoor activation space and if we think about the block that's beside the town hall, there's some really good community space in front of the town hall and we'll now start to see that on both Warrenheip Street and Learmonth Street. Anything that brings people out into the streets and to enhance activation around the streetscape I think is a terrific thing."

Mr Poulton said more outdoor space was important for Buninyong businesses still recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

"One of the things that creates vibrancy for business is people. If you've got people walking, sitting around, enjoying the streetscape, then they're more likely to spend their money and get together as a community and really share some time together," he said.

"I think that's one of the unique natures of Buninyong, a capacity for a small community to come together and to do so with a bit of a commercial focus in and around some of the hospitality venues and potentially new venues that will come into Buninyong as a result."

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