A look back at 2023

January

ELITE cyclists rolled through Ballarat and Buninyong for another year during the Federation University Road National Championships.

Over five days, the country’s best riders raced along on Sturt Street during the criteriums, on the Mount Buninyong course throughout the gruelling road races, and at FedUni’s Mount Helen campus for time trials.

Ballarat’s Koorie Engagement Action Group led the fourth Survival Day Dawn Service at Lake Wendouree to remember and mourn Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who fought in the frontier wars and died as a result of colonisation since 1788.

The City of Ballarat’s 2023 Australia Day Community Awards were awarded, with Tweed Ride organiser and theatre creative Liana Skewes named Citizen of the Year, volunteer Millie Collins named Young Citizen of the Year, and Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre winning Community Event of the Year.

After 43 years of working weekends, Ballarat’s king of catering, Peter Ford, farewelled professional cheffing.

February

Ballarat Turf Club staff began rebuilding and remarketing the 2023 Sportsbet Ballarat Cup event after Racing Victoria rescheduled the race day during a Spring Racing Carnival review.

Although there was an original effort to move the Cox Plate to 25 November, it was decided the Moonee Valley meet would stay put, but the 2023 Cranbourne Cup changed to that date, driving Ballarat back by two weeks.

A disappointed Ballarat Turf Club CEO Belinda Glass said their preference was always to retain the third Saturday after Melbourne Cup.

“We felt we had a very strong event on that date, and it’s been a standalone Saturday for many years with strong fields, good turnover and really good attendance,” she said.”

Cardigan Village residents who had been affected by a lack of infrastructure upgrades for years questioned City of Ballarat officers about why there was unsafe guttering and persistent flooding in the satellite suburb.

March

Ballarat Botanical Gardens were awash with people and colour over Labour Day weekend with the return of the Ballarat Begonia Festival.

In its 71st year, the three-day event saw thousands flock to the region with more than 500 different types of the titular flowers on display at the Robert Clark Conservatory.

Stage three developments began at Her Majesty’s Theatre aimed at improving accessibility.

Owners of the land between Ballarat Station and Mair Street announced their plans for a major redevelopment of the area. Nigro Group commissioned Plus Architecture to design a Station Southside Precinct that would be a community hub with a hotel, shops and eateries, offices, leisure spaces, and childcare.

Stewart’s Bakery owners Noel and Margaret Stewart reopened their beloved Midvale Shopping Centre store having rebuilt after a devastating fire.

Natarsha Williams, Anne Tudor, Maureen Hatcher, and Dr Lynne Reeder were inducted onto Zonta Ballarat’s Great Women honour roll.

April

Creswick’s live music and dance festival went off without a hitch as CresFest 2023 organisers saw their year of hard work and preparation come to life over three days.

Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, announced $96,000 in funding to preserve the Eureka Stockade gardens and develop a new conservation management program.

Adjacent to the Eureka Centre, the gardens are on Australia’s National Heritage List, and are home to a large monument which was commissioned in 1884 to commemorate the Eureka Rebellion.

The management program includes ongoing structural assessment and conservation of the monument as well as adding additional seating, shade, and highlighting heritage aspects of the garden.

Higher education, training and skills minister, Gayle Tierney, was at Federation University’s SMB campus to open a new Co-operative Centre of Excellence, and the contract of City of Ballarat chief executive officer Evan King was extended for another four years.

May

City of Ballarat councillors decided the nearly-80-year-old Brown Hill pool would be demolished at their regular council meeting, and adopted the Brown Hill Recreation Reserve Masterplan.

With deciding factors including a previously estimated $1.3 million refurbishment cost, a reported lack of attendance, and site deterioration, the pool will be replaced with a $2 million children’s splash park.

In an Australian exclusive, historic works by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were displayed at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Pre-Raphaelites: Drawings & Watercolours, previously presented at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, was a “once in a lifetime experience” for local art-lovers according to gallery director Louise Tegart.

The city’s streets were awash with all things retro with the return of the award-winning Ballarat Heritage Festival. Past-century clothing and vintage vehicles decorated the region, with events aimed at placing attendees in eras long gone.

Sebastopol Primary School community members celebrated the institution’s 150th anniversary.

June

Committee for Ballarat brought together organisations, businesses, and schools to launch the Ballarat Energy Network project.

CFB CEO Michael Poulton said Ballarat could be fully powered by renewable energy by connecting existing and new infrastructure.

“We can bring together thousands of energy generation assets we have… and distribute the power locally,” he said.

“That network would become a community-owned asset where the profits, the buying and selling of the energy, stays within the regional community.”

The FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy was displayed at Forest Rangers Soccer Club in Wendouree West as part of the final leg of an international tour.

City of Ballarat became one of four regional municipalities being reviewed through the Victorian Electoral Commission to adopt a single-ward council structure. The mandatory reshuffle for regional cities passed as part of the Local Government Act 2020.

Ballarat Priority Primary Care Centre passed the milestone of medically treating 10,000 patients.

July

Members of the Ballarat community expressed shock and disappointment over the announcement that the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria had been cancelled due to cost, but the State Government confirmed many of the major legacy project works would go ahead, including more seating for Mars Stadium.

Work on Bridge Mall’s transformation back to Bridge Street got underway. The more-than-$18 million project is estimated to be completed in winter 2024 and will see the mall space opened up for single-lane traffic that flows towards Peel Street North.

After eleven years of living in Australia without a permanent visa, employment, or access to the Medicare system, local Sri Lankan refugee and asylum seeker Neil Para began a Walk for freedom from Ballarat to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s electoral office in Marrickville, Sydney.

The inaugural Ballarat Marathon was announced for April 2024, with Olympian Steve Moneghetti the face of major sporting event.

August

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council crowned Ballarat the state’s Top Tourism Town for a second time, and the 2023 AusCycling Cyclo-Cross National Championships were held at Victoria Park.

The best riders in Australia took part in the event which involved many laps of a short course with mud, grass, steep hills, and obstacles. The terrain was sometimes so challenging, the riders needed to dismount their bike and carry them over certain sections.

The course took riders to the mullock heap, which they had to walk up, and ride down the other side.

After the controversial relocation of Sebastopol’s post office from Albert Street to Delacombe Town Centre in early 2021, Australia Post announced they would re-establish a community postal agency in the suburb.

The 10th Ballarat International Foto Biennale filled Ballarat’s galleries, streets, and venues with photographic by local, national and internationally-renowned creatives including portrait photographer, Platon.

September

Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews retired from the top job and his role as the Member for Mulgrave. The Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, was voted by the Labor party as his replacement the next day, and became the state’s first female premier in 30 years.

Local Sri Lankan refugee Neil Para completed a 1014-kilometre Walk for Freedom. Crossing the finish line in Marrickville, Sydney, he discovered that he, his wife and three daughters been granted permanent residency in Australia.

Buninyong Primary School celebrated 150 years of operation, and the flame was lit for the local leg of the Legacy Centenary Torch Relay.

Thirty-two local torch bearers took part between Ranger Barracks in Alfredton and a cauldron lighting at Queen Victoria Square.

Hundreds of young female soccer players were on-field at the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility at Morshead Park to compete for the second annual Western United Cup.

October

Most of Ballarat’s adult residents voted no in a Federal referendum to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to Parliament, and to recognise First Nations peoples in the constitution.

Recreation Road Bushland Reserve and its section of the Bunny Trail were officially opened in Mount Clear, driven by Friends of Canadian Corridor.

The reserve and its pathway features the remnants of an historic bridge and connects the Mount Clear College area with Woowookarung Regional Park.

The crew of HMAS Ballarat visited their namesake city, and regional folk and roots music festival CresFest was named community/cultural project of the year at the Australian Folk Music Awards in Brunswick.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Housing Harriet Shing were in Delacombe to inspect 11 new social houses constructed in partnership with CatholicCare as part of the Big Housing Build.

November

The Victorian container deposit scheme got underway on 1 November, refunding ten cents for every eligible drink bottle or carton returned for recycling.

Volunteer and humanitarian Maureen Doonan was named Ballarat Senior of the Year, and the controversial Lake Wendouree and Victoria Park link lighting project was switched on.

Cr Des Hudson retained his role as mayor for another year, and the Ballarat Times News Group 2023 Ballarat Show brought the farm to the city.

Rotary Club of Ballarat’s Springfest market Sunday ran for the first time in four years to benefit community partner organisations, and local and international Rotary projects.

Buninyong and District Community Association announced the re-establishment of the Buninyong Community News which hasn’t been produced since early-2022.

Women’s health and fitness advocate Wendy Vorstenbosch was named Ballarat’s inaugural Informal Volunteer of the Year, and St Brendan’s at Dunnstown ceased operation after more than 160 years of educating primary school pupils.

December

American rapper Post Malone headlined the Spilt Milk music festival in Victoria Park, and Central Highlands Water began installing a sewer system in the Mount Rowan area in preparation for a proposed residential growth zone in Ballarat’s north.

Ballarat Turf Club CEO Belinda Glass reported about 3600 people attended the Sportsbet Ballarat Cup’s 10-race program on Saturday 9 December, which saw the Paul Preusker-trained gelding, Captain Envious win the titular $500,000 race.

Magical sounds of the festive season echoed around Mars Stadium as Ballarat Carols by Candlelight returned to dazzle families. Opera Australia’s Jason Wasley and music theatre stars Sarah Landy and Brent Trotter were star performers, alongside ensembles including the Ballarat Grammar Pipe Band and Ballarat Lyric Theatre’s Annie cast.

At the Victorian Drama League Awards, Ballarat National Theatre stage and behind-the-scenes creatives took a bow and walked away with five wins and eight nominations.