The City of Ballarat is working to secure critical funding for a number of priority projects in the lead up to the federal election, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced will be held on 21 May.
Ballarat voters will go to the polls a second time later this year, with the Victorian election due on the last Saturday in November.
City of Ballarat is taking a two-pronged approach to lobbying the Federal and Victorian Governments ahead of the elections.
Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022
Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022 is a collaborative approach which sees City of Ballarat join with eight other Ballarat organisations representing the health, education, visitor economy and business sectors, on shared city-wide advocacy priorities for Ballarat.
Ballarat Mayor, Cr Daniel Moloney said the Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022 suite of projects will have an impact across the city and region and will be launched just after Easter.
"All of the Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022 projects represent important investments which will boost the economy, create jobs, improve health outcomes and sustainability, and attract students and visitors," he said.
"While today's announcement formalises the date of the federal election, residents can be confident that we have been working toward this for quite some time. City of Ballarat and each of our Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022 partners have all spoken to elected representatives to discuss the need and value of their projects.
"No matter what point of the election cycle we are in, Council continues to talk to all sides of politics, both in Canberra and in Spring Street, to make sure Ballarat gets our fair share of funds from state and federal governments."
Ballarat. Now and Into the Future 2022 will launch on April 21.
City of Ballarat priority projects
In 2021 the City of Ballarat developed a list of priority projects that require funding support from state and federal governments, ranging from smaller scale improvements to facilities at the local level, to city and region-defining initiatives.
From those discussions, 29 priority projects were selected from Master Plans, Strategies, Structure Plans across three tiers for advocacy according to the impact at a regional, city-wide or local level.
Tier one: regionally transformational projects like Ballarat Link Road and expansion of the Ballarat's Major Events Precinct
Tier two: projects of citywide significance including a Regional Animal Facility
Tier three: projects of local significance such as a Buninyong Skate Park, Learmonth Oval upgrades and revitalisation works at Redan wetlands
A full list of these projects can be found at ballarat.vic.gov.au/advocacy
"We've been encouraged by the response we've received to our advocacy on these projects over the past year, and I'm hopeful of some major announcements in the coming months," Cr Moloney said.
