Sebastopol community centre confirmed

IT’S official, regardless of who wins next month’s Federal election, Sebastopol is getting a new multi-million-dollar community centre.

The project was confirmed by Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson last Monday when she visited the Sebastopol Senior Citizens Centre and announced $4.5 million had been budgeted for the works by the Federal Government.

When matched with Labor’s pledge from November 2021 for the same money in their first budget should they win office, the project is all but locked in.

“While we’re focusing on building a strong economy and a stronger future, we can only do that if we have strong communities,” Ms Henderson said.

“That means keeping communities connected, healthy, together, looking after our physical health and our mental health.

“This is what this community hub is all about.”

Located on Vickers Street in Sebastopol, the new building is set to cost at least $8 million and will house the local senior citizens centre, an expanded kindergarten, Ballarat Community Health spaces and a Girl Guides group.

Executive officer of the Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre, Vicki Coltman, said there was a real need for the new space.

“An upgrade to this centre is vital,” she said. “It’s been an area that hasn’t had a lot of love and been on the drawing board for a long time.

“It’s true to say that Sebastopol has been the poor cousin for the City of Ballarat for a long time. It’s great to see the senior citizens centre getting a revamp and become a community centre for everyone.”

With the Federal Government putting in at least half of the money for the project, the remainder of the funding will fall on the City of Ballarat.

With a new Sebastopol community centre a priority project for the municipality, City spokesperson and South Ward’s Cr Ben Taylor welcomed the confirmation of the cash.

“The great thing is we’ve done the pre-work from a council point of view, we’ve done the proper costing,” he said.

“To have the commitment of $4.5 million today, in writing, means it’s going to go through sooner than a pledge would have.”

With the money set aside for the new building by the Federal Government, the project will need to pass through a grant application process before the funds can be given to the City of Ballarat, who’ll be undertaking the build, and works can begin.