Pressure grows on Foodbank to deliver Ballarat hub before next election

Funding for Foodbank's plan to establish a Ballarat hub was promised by the state government three-and-a-half-years ago and pressure has grown on the organisation to deliver before the next election in November.

Major details including a site and design plans have not yet been confirmed, leaving the project in limbo as the problem of food insecurity continues to rage through the Ballarat community.

The state government has identified food security as an area of significant need for Ballarat and the surrounding region.

People living in regional Australia are 33 per cent more likely to experience food insecurity than their metro counterparts.

Demand for food relief in Ballarat has soared throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with almost a third of people accessing food relief experiencing food insecurity for the first time according to 2020 data.

The casual workforce and international students were two groups hit hard during the pandemic and waves of lockdowns.

A team of Ballarat organisations launched a new food relief service supplying food packages to schools and university students and Federation University set up a free community pantry for its students.

A lack of affordable housing and rising costs of living has put increasing pressure on household budgets.

Many families reported high petrol prices in recent months forced them to choose between food and driving their children to school.

A state government spokesperson said negotiations were continuing regarding the purchase of land, but the hub remained on track for completion by the end of 2022, with first deliveries ahead of Christmas.

The state government confirmed a builder and architect for the project have been appointed.

Foodbank acting chief executive Matt Tilley said a brand new facility would further enhance capacity to service organisations without some of the logistical challenges currently faced being based in Yarraville.

"We are very excited to be in a position to bring the hub project to life before the next election, as promised by the state government," he said.

"Built as a brand new facility it will further enhance our capacity to service many of the amazing local agencies who already receive food from us....

"Our goal is to boost their capacity to help their own clients and offer complimentary services and programs where appropriate.

"We are certainly not looking to change the current access models or relationships that we currently share. We simply want to use our greater capacity to source food at scale to help them do what they do best."

Mr Tilley said he knew there were many other agencies in the Ballarat area that did not have capacity to offer a food relief service and he hoped a Foodbank hub could support them.

"Our presence should hopefully add that string to their bow," he said.

"We also hope to bring a greater range of opportunities for people wanting to engage with what we do - think growing produce, cooking classes, employment and training opportunities."

Victorian Labor committed $5 million to Foodbank to construct a regional food distribution hub in Ballarat in November 2018.

The extensive delays in delivering the project, which was first planned to be under construction in the 2020/21 financial year, has caused some community frustration.

The Courier understands there have been extensive and compounding delays holding up the project, including the coronavirus pandemic, land price changes and a long period before the funding was released.

Foodbank has repeatedly told The Courier since 2019 planning was underway and staff were working to purchase land.

Foodbank has previously said the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown restrictions had delayed progress on the hub, with Melbourne-based staff unable to travel to Ballarat to visit potential sites.

Chief executive Dave McNamara also said in the past Foodbank had been delayed on the project waiting for state government to release the funding.

RELATED COVERAGE: Foodbank still searching for site to build Ballarat hub

The Courier understands organisations must meet certain funding arrangement criteria before government money is released.

In May 2021 a Foodbank spokesperson told The Courier the Ballarat project should be delivered between the middle and end of 2022.

Even if an announcement on land purchase was to be made in the next few weeks, this would only allow a little more than six months to progress through planning processes and complete construction.

Ballarat Foundation chief executive said the Ballarat region had experienced a difficult period with a large number of people needing to access food relief, with the demand continuing to increase in recent months.

"With this in mind, it's disappointing that almost four years on from the announcement that the Foodbank project has not yet been established in Ballarat," he said.

"The foundation is looking forward to Foodbank getting the project off the ground.

"In the meantime we will continue to support emergency and longer term food relief efforts in the community through our Feed Ballarat appeal which is providing dozens of grants to reduce food insecurity."

RELATED COVERAGE: Work to establish Ballarat Foodbank Hub continues as demand for relief rises

The funding for Foodbank was promised in the lead up to the 2018 election.

The Labor party announcement came after the Liberal-National Coalition promised to fund the Ballarat Foundation's detailed plans to create a Ballarat Food Security Centre.

The party announced in early November 2018 it would contribute $1.5 million for the project if it won state election.

The Ballarat Foundation would have contributed a further $2.5 million to have the centre ready for operation by the end of 2019, with Foodbank to take over management.

It is understood the site for the proposed centre at the Ballarat West Employment Zone had already been selected.

Ballarat Foundation and Foodbank ended their partnership in delivering the food security centre after Labor promised Foodbank $10 million funding for its own regional hubs in Ballarat and Morwell.

Mr Tilley said the Foodbank team was confident the delivery of the Morwell Hub would mirror the Ballarat scenario and timeline.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.