More behind the scenes work will be required before councils learn exactly what Commonwealth Games infrastructure will be needed, and decisions may not arrive until the end of the year.
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The 2026 Commonwealth Games, to be held across regional Victoria, will spotlight Ballarat - we're hosting the athletics and para-athletics at Mars Stadium, as well as the boxing and part of the cricket program so far.
The state government allocated $2.6 billion over five years for the Games, to be shared between Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, and the Latrobe Valley.
The clock is ticking - the Games are expected to begin in March 2026, meaning the event is less than four years away - and as well as sporting infrastructure like additional stadium seating and warm-up tracks, a village for at least 1750 people will be required, and potentially more infrastructure like car parks, train platforms, and plazas.
The Games are one of the City of Ballarat's top priority projects, but there has been little detail revealed publicly from the state government about where and when this new infrastructure will go, or if there will be more sports added in Ballarat as negotiations with the Commonwealth Games Federation continue.
According to a state government spokesperson, more detail will emerge soon.
"We are working closely with the City of Ballarat to identify potential sites for the villages and the sports program for Victoria 2026 - we expect this work to be complete by the end of the year," they said in a statement.
"Eureka Stadium has already been confirmed as the home of athletics, with more information on how the Games will be celebrated in the region to come soon."
Committee for Ballarat chief executive Michael Poulton, who has previously worked on several Olympic Games, said planning for major events was always a challenge.
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"We are cutting by at least half the typical lead-in time that you would have for planning an event of this size - I'm sympathetic, I'm understanding of the fact that the government is taking a bit of time to get the building blocks in place to be able to make really good decisions, and they're not there just yet," he said.
"The allocation of $2.6 billion over four years is an extraordinary amount of money, a fantastic investment in the games and the legacy pieces that will come.
"I'm certainly cutting them some slack in terms of getting to a point where we've got to plan this very well - we're trying to plan this much faster than otherwise we would.
"At the end of the day, the deadline's the deadline, and it will happen."
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