Concern about community consultation – City of Ballarat council meeting briefs

QUESTION time at the recent City of Ballarat ordinary council meeting involved numerous queries from residents living adjacent to Prince of Wales Park, following the release of the draft master plan for community consultation.

Residents cited concern with the lack of consultation they had experienced before the draft plan was released, despite the consideration of the views of sporting bodies and user groups early in the planning stage.

Director of community wellbeing Matthew Wilson said consultation with residents began with the release of the draft plan, and that there was scope to adjust.

“Further consultation with surrounding residents commenced through the placement of the draft masterplan for public exhibition which is the period we are currently in,” he said.

“There is some small scope within the existing proposed master plan to further extend some buffers and make some minor adjustments.

“Major change certainly is a greater challenge, there is no doubt about that, but we are very interested in understanding where the primary concerns of residents are.”

Other concerns raised by residents included noise and light spillage from the new hockey pitch, the loss of green space and the devaluation of houses.

Mr Wilson said that all plans will be developed in line with EPA regulations, Australian standards for sports lighting and the Ballarat Planning Scheme, and that a buffer between sports fields and houses has proven effective in other areas of Ballarat.

“The proposed landscape buffer of 30 metres and further planting is aimed to mitigate noise,” he said.

“The 30-metre buffer zone has proven to be an effective provision in multiple other reserves across the city.”

Cr Daniel Moloney said although there were issues with how consultation was conducted, the sports facilities in this area are one of the reasons Lake Gardens is an attractive place to live.

“It makes it one of the most attractive parts of Ballarat and it’s one of the reasons why property prices in that area are some of the most expensive in Ballarat,” he said.

“There is definitely some issues, don’t me wrong, I am hearing that loud and clear, and we definitely should be doing better to mitigate those issues.”

 

Airport plan approved but called a ‘pipe dream’

A majority of councillors endorsed the Ballarat Airport Strategy and Master Plan 2024.

Cr Samantha McIntosh requested an addition to the motion in which as well as the plan being adopted, a report will be brought back to council to ensure areas of the airport affected by heritage overlays will be cross referenced.

“We need to understand the whole of the airport precinct, which includes those 32 other huts and the community groups that use them, we need to understand what the future plan is for that area as well,” she said.

Cr Moloney said he was happy to support the motion as the airport is an important asset.

“It’s a massive asset that I don’t think we’ve ever properly realised the potential for,” he said.

“I think this strikes the right balance; it is a well-considered report.”

Crs Mark Harris and Amy Johnson did not support the motion, with Cr Johnson calling the plan a ‘pipe dream.’

“I would absolutely love a wonderful commercial airport operating out of Ballarat,” she said.

“The resources that would be required to put into the achievement of that dream would be significant.

“I think it’s a bit of a pipe dream.”

 

No changes to 26 January events

Community consultation about 26 January events indicated there are mixed views among the community.

A total of 534 responses were received with 43 per cent of respondents attending Australia Day Picnic in the Park and 40 per cent going to the Survival Day dawn ceremony.

The survey found that the current offering is providing a mix of activities which appeal to different community members.

“Pleasingly for me, people enjoy all the activities on offer and the range of activities on offer,” said Cr Peter Eddy.

“What it’s done is given officers certainty they can get on with the job next year.”

While Cr Belinda Coates said there is more work to be done towards reconciliation, Cr Johnson said it is not the City of Ballarat’s role to tell the community what to think.

“I do find it a tiny bit condescending the line that there’s a lot of work to do,” said Cr Johnson.

“In my opinion, we as councillors are here to represent our community and it’s not our job to tell the community how to live, how to feel.”‘

 

Draft housing plan endorsed

The social and affordable housing action plan, which identifies ways the City of Ballarat could contribute to affordable housing outcomes, was endorsed.

Cr Coates said that with rental availability sitting at around one per cent in Ballarat and an increase in people experiencing housing stress, it is great to have a plan on what can be done.

“It’s great to see an action plan that focuses on the things that we can do,” she said.

Cr Ben Taylor that ultimately the responsibility for social housing lies with State and Federal governments, and that they should be doing more.

“This is an issue that is clearly here, and council yes we have a role to advocate and support,” he said.

“But it’s the State and Federal governments’ responsibility and they need to get their act together.”

 

Waste strategy update

A circular economy strategy for 2024-2028 was endorsed for public exhibition for four weeks.

The strategy covers topics such as local waste reduction and diversion targets, waste education, council waste service offerings, litter, and illegal dumping.

It includes targets such as reducing the total kerbside waste generation per person in Ballarat by 15 per cent between 2020 and 2030, reducing the level of contamination in recycling to below 15 per cent by 2030, and reducing the reported instances of illegal dumping by 30 per cent by 2030.

Cr Coates said it is important to make it easy for people to reduce waste.

“It’s a journey, but we’ve really got to start somewhere,” she said.

“We looked at setting targets and goals for the waste that goes into landfill and increasing recycling.

“I am really excited about some of the initiatives that are happening already.”

Cr Johnson said she was concerned that the frequency of general waste collection reducing to every fortnight will disproportionately affect low socioeconomic households.

“There will be a big gap where many of the residents in our city will be worse off than before,” she said.

“I strongly believe we should have a six-month crossover period where we introduce the food and organics waste and still have that weekly waste collection.”