Spring Street the target for growth funding

A GROUP of Ballarat organisations headed to Melbourne this week in an attempts to get traction on funding for six major projects.

The City of Ballarat, Ballarat Health Services, Sovereign Hill, Commerce Ballarat, Committee for Ballarat, and Visit Ballarat along with Federation and Australian Catholic universities have come together under the banner The Ballarat. Now and Into the Future.

The group is seeking backing for projects including; the Ballarat Link Road, Warrenheip Station, upgrades for Her Majesty’s Theatre and Sovereign Hill, along with research and innovation centers aimed at health and emergency services.

“We are now the capital of western Victoria and we need to have the infrastructure in place to cope with that growth, particularly in our transport networks,” City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said.

“We also need to ensure two of our biggest drawcards in Her Majesty’s Theatre and Sovereign Hill are upgraded to the best possible standards to ensure Ballarat maintains its reputation as one of the tourism capitals of Victoria.

“Ballarat also needs to capitalise on its excellent health and education facilities to create a renowned medical research hub while also creating an aviation hub that will provide for a much quicker emergency service response across the state,” Cr McIntosh said.

The group will take their plans to a range of MPs including; Regional Development Minister and Western Victoria MLC Jaala Pulford, as well as fellow Western Victoria MLC Joshua Morris, Buninyong MLA Geoff Howard and Ripon MLA Louise Staley, along with other Victorian MPs.

Overall the group is seeking $230 million for the projects.

That total includes $80 million for stage two of the Ballarat Link Road to connect areas on the city’s western edge to the Western Highway.

The proposed Warrenheip Station would cost $21.8 million and the group claims it would mean a less than one hour train ride to Melbourne and 2000 cars off streets in the CBD.

There’s also $15 million for Her Majesty’s Theatre upgrades and a further $43 million for a project called Sovereign Hill Beyond 50, both designed to extend the life of the facilities.

Lastly a Ballarat Research and Innovation Collaboration for Health would cost $19 million and an Aviation Innovation Emergency Services Hub would run to $50 million.

Cr McIntosh said the group was hoping to make the projects election issues.

“There is a state election looming and we need to let both sides of politics know exactly what Ballarat needs now and into the future. We can’t sit and wait for the money to come to us – we need to put Ballarat’s needs right in front of the people who make the funding decisions,” she said.