The City of Ballarat is asking for more than $430 million in state and federal funding for major projects, including road, recycling, and sporting facility upgrades, with elections around the corner.
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The number one road priority is once again the duplication of Dyson Drive from Remembrance Drive to Carngham Road, which is now expected to cost at least $49.9 million, up from an estimated $35 million in November.
As part of its "transformational" tier one projects, council is also asking for a further $150 million for the next two stages of the project, which would connect Carngham Road to the Glenelg Highway at an estimated cost of $68.6 million, and then the Glenelg Highway to the Midland Highway, costing about $81.1 million.
The next priority is to drastically improve the city's recycling capacity, with a "circular economy precinct" at the Ballarat West Employment Zone.
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This has been on the cards for several years, with the initial pitch being a materials recovery facility, or all-waste interchange, that would take waste from across western Victoria and sort it, potentially removing thousands of tonnes of useful materials from landfill.
Council estimates the project would need $16 million for infrastructure, as well as a parcel of land at BWEZ, and would seek a private operator to partner with, at a cost of about $10 million.
The third major project is the upgrade of the city's "major events precinct", with at least $53 million needed for further land acquisition and infrastructure around Mars Stadium and Selkirk Stadium, possibly in time for the potential 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Tier two projects include a new animal shelter, at a cost of $11.5 million at a council-owned space at Mitchell Park, lighting upgrades at Mars Stadium, and A-League and W-League grade lights and a new roof over the grandstand at the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility.
There's also a plan for $5 million of "city illumination" in the CBD, where "heritage buildings will be up lit and illuminated, trees and bandstands will be strung with lights and local laneways festooned" to increase Ballarat's "nighttime economy" and make it more welcoming and appealling for locals and visitors.
Other new projects listed include the "Law Courts Central Park" on Grenville Street, to create a "habitat" along the Yarrowee, and $25 million to complete the Mair Street upgrade, replacing roundabouts at Grenville and Dawson streets with traffic lights.
Some of the projects have already attracted funding, like Mair Street, which received $1.38 million in federal Black Spot money in 2020, or election promises, like federal Labor's promise to upgrade the Sebastopol Senior Citizen's Centre.
New and upgraded community centres in Sebastopol, Delacombe, Ballymanus in Alfredton, and on Eastwood Street in the CBD are also listed as tier two projects.
There are also another 13 tier three, or local-level projects listed, including a community hub and skate park in Buninyong, sporting facility upgrades in Learmonth and Miners Rest, new changerooms and lights at the Marty Busch Reserve in Sebastopol, revitalisation of the Redan wetlands, and upgrades to the Wendouree library.
The full 12km second stage of the Ballarat Link Road project has failed to attract state or federal funding for years, after the first stage was completed in 2018 - council estimates have continued to rise, and as of November, still lacked a business case.
According to the priorities document, council said the upgrade is still needed as the population in the city's west "trebled" between 2018 and 2020.
The duplication of Dyson Drive in particular will serve "demand created by 16,000 new residents" in the next five years.
Many of the projects listed in the document have estimates for cost, or note that funding requirements will be estimated once masterplanning is complete - this includes the major events precinct initiative, which also calls for "fast-tracking" of planning.
Interestingly, several major projects are not listed as major priorities for funding this year, including work at the Ballarat airport to extend Liberator Drive around the lengthened runway, or desperately needed accessibility works at the Ballarat train station.
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In a statement, mayor Daniel Moloney said council is "continually" lobbying for funding for all projects, directly and indirectly.
"In many respects our advocacy is a long game - and while not every project will get funded at these elections, the City of Ballarat will always make the case to all sides of politics for these important projects, regardless of where we're up to in the election cycle," he said.
See the full list here, or view it below.
The federal election is expected to be held before May, while the state election will be in November.
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