City of Ballarat pulls extra funding for vital drainage infrastructure for Pinnacle Estate subdivision in region's west

At Wednesday's council meeting, Cr Ben Taylor moved the motion for the council to dip into $1.940 million from its Developer Contributions Reserve (DCR) to facilitate the increase of two drain basins at Pinnacle Estate in Smythes Creek.

Cr Taylor said the decision was one which was "common sense" and needed to happen "quickly" to ensure the city had the "requirements of growth (to) happen."

"Growth has happened and it's always good to assess especially in relation to retention basins," he said.

"This is hopefully getting ahead of the game."

Pinnacle Estate is planned to accommodate more than 700 dwellings.

The site, bordered by the Glenelg Highway and Kensington Creek, forms part of the council's Ballarat West Precinct Structure Plan (PSP).

From the most recent appraisals by Melbourne-based Engeny Water Management (EWM), who the City of Ballarat appointed to undertake the land's drainage strategy in 2012, the firm found the drainage infrastructure projects in place at present were "insufficient to manage flows of water from approved developments".

The City of Ballarat's land drainage strategy forms part of the PSP and is partially funded by the Ballarat West Development Contribution Plan (DCP).

Specifically, the engineering consultancy company had cited "two drainage basins (RB11 and RB12) that are wholly located on Pinnacle Estate" required a "significant increase in size" to reduce the likelihood of development works at the development needing to "cease" into the future.

While the council will pull the unbudgeted funds for the project from their DCR, they have highlighted a "portion" of the money will potentially be recouped.

However, the city has said they are unsure how much exactly this would be.

Such a decision may also place the council in a precarious position as it may result in the city having to incur additional borrowings over its four-year budget and 10-year financial plan.

Speaking to the mayor Cr Des Hudson on Thursday, he said while tapping into the DCR may appear risky, it could have the potential to "save" the council in years to come.

"If we look at the current economic climate, with levels of inflation increasing, costs in the delivery, cost of materials alone that seems to be increasing, investment that we make now might save us in the end, double that amount, if we just wait four or five years until we do the works," Cr Hudson said.

"What we're seeing in a number of projects at the moment that have been planned over a significant period of time, is that due to inflationary pressures, some projects have significant cost overruns purely because of just those extra costs that are occurring.

"So we've just got to bite the bullet, make the investment and make sure that we're doing it in a timely way."

He emphasised the move would likely result in a better lifestyle for those moving into the estate, taking into account information of flood levels over the past year.

"There was significant flooding down in that area, flooding to levels that was just low lying water in paddocks that I hadn't seen in my 20 years driving down through that area," Cr Hudson said.

"So this is about then activation on some of those issues that we've seen, and that those lands will be developed into the future and and making sure the appropriate infrastructure is then put in place; making sure we get a better outcome for the residents that will ultimately live there."

He added the city's financial officers would inform the council as to appropriate modelling for their 23/24 budget to ensure this cost was absorbed in a way which would still allow the delivery of other key priorities.

There is however, the possibility for the decision to be "refused" by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) due to some infrastructure, namely the RB11 pipes, being delivered this year prior to the adoption of the PSP review.

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Council officers have also posed the decision could have other risks including there being "no guarantee" additional funding would be supported and fully recouped through the DCP due it being subject to scrutiny by Planning Panels Victoria.

The affected landowner, Abiwood, has been "full engaged on the proposal" and the developer of Pinnacle Estate is reported to be "supportive of (council's) approach".

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