AFTER ongoing debate, City of Ballarat councillors awarded the contract for the Lake Wendouree and Victoria Park\u2019s lighting installation at their regular meeting on Wednesday, 23 February.<\/p>\n
The development will be undertaken by DeAraugo and Lea Electrical Contractors, who will oversee the installation of 225 light poles along Moneghetti Track.<\/p>\n
The motion was passed with the support of Crs Daniel Moloney, Belinda Coates, Peter Eddy, Des Hudson, Ben Taylor and Tracey Hargreaves.<\/p>\n
Cr Amy Johnson opposed the motion and said that although she loved the idea of lights around the lake, the current plan did not appeal to the majority of residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people from all different parts of the community that have heard about the plan for this particular part of the lake, and don\u2019t support it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s still an opportunity to potentially go back and put together a lighting design that more people in our community will actually be supportive of.\u201d<\/p>\n
After trialling previous lighting iterations including in-ground lights, the project is set to include of 5.5-metre poles at 20 metres apart and will cost a projected amount of over $2 million.<\/p>\n
Growth plan gets tweak<\/strong><\/p>\n Councillors unanimously passed a motion to amend the Ballarat Planning Scheme.<\/p>\n The plan outlines urban growth zones across the city\u2019s outer regions to determine development of the city\u2019s expansion.<\/p>\n The new amendment will allow municipal officers to provide a quarterly review to council to track the scheme\u2019s development.<\/p>\n When asked about a timeline for the plan, CEO Evan King said amendment allowed for an opportunity to \u201cprovide transparency\u201d to the community.<\/p>\n Mayor Cr Moloney said the shaping of the scheme will affect everyone in the city, and that it was \u201ccrucial\u201d that council get it right.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery aspect of our future lives will have some sort of impact from this decision\u201d he said. \u201cThe roads, the hospitals, the future schools, all that critical infrastructure cannot happen ad hoc.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Taylor suggested that at 15 lots per hectare, expansion would also need to partly include Ballarat\u2019s already-established suburbs in order to meet the scheme\u2019s projected growth.<\/p>\n Once outlined, the City will apply to the Minister of Planning for approval of the plan, which will trace the development of the urban growth zones across an expected 15-year period.<\/p>\n More support for libraries<\/strong><\/p>\n Council adopted the City of Ballarat Libraries and Learning Strategy 2022-2027, which will see increased support for the municipal run facilities.<\/p>\n Cr Coates commended the strategy, and said the \u201ccompletely free and inclusive space\u201d that libraries offer provide an essential service for any community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such an important area and such great benefit for the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo change plans one week out on the agenda of outcomes, that doesn\u2019t diminish the importance of how much our community love our libraries and how important they are to long-term health and wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n Crap idea for kids<\/strong><\/p>\n In an effort to reduce the city\u2019s carbon footprint, a cloth nappy rebate of 50 per cent was also passed by council.<\/p>\n The rebate will be trialled over six months from 1 March with a maximum budget of $30,000.<\/p>\n With an estimate of over 5000 disposable nappies going to landfill in the course of a child\u2019s first few years, Cr Johnson said it was \u201cabsolutely fantastic\u201d that families will be encouraged to use reusable products.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of using cloth nappies overall will be cheaper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to run off to the supermarket in the middle of the night if you\u2019re running out, you\u2019ll always have more at home if you\u2019re up to date with the washing.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, the rebate would apply for purchases of up to a maximum of $100, although this was amended to a total of $50.<\/p>\n