An "ambitious" plan has been approved to create a swathe of new parking at Wendouree Station, alongside a public plaza, new retail area and residential options.
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The Wendouree Station Master Plan touts direct access from the soon-to-be reopened Gregory Street West to the train hub's second platform on the south side of the station, which is currently under construction.
A new bus interchange and eventually a multi-storey car park will built, with a "range of land uses to ensure activation and passive surveillance of the precinct including new retail, commercial and residential offerings".
The master plan was passed by City of Ballarat councillors 4-3 at Wednesday night's meeting.
Councillor Mark Harris moved a defeated motion to defer the plan, saying that it would create a "plaza and forecourt with tumbleweeds going through", as a retail focus at the station would not be supported by market demand considering Wendouree Village's proximity.
"It's ill-thought out on every level ... I hope in the future we're able to pull this back and re-mediate what will be a very desolate area around a dysfunctional station," he said.
"We should defer adoption to a time when (council) officers can supply us with smaller-scale alternatives, which would relate to the usage of the station as it will exist in the future."
But Councillor Des Hudson moved a successful alternative motion, which included a focus on implementing the "ambitious" plan as there's demand from the commercial market.
"This is a reasonable starting point for what will be a very exciting precinct ... in five, ten, fifteen years from now," he said.
"There is enough information for it to advance to the next stage, and enough flexibility in the plan. In this changing world and changing demographics, there are different uses for transport hubs," he said.
Stage one of the Wendouree Station proposal would include the creation of the public forecourt and some retail, while stage two suggests building a multi-deck car park at the corner of Gillies Street North and Gregory Street West.
In a report, strategic planning officers state the precinct currently has "poor access and movement for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and public transport users and has poor passive surveillance".
City of Ballarat's manager of strategic planning Lisa Kendall told the chamber that once the public plaza was full developed, the creation of a bus interchange on the south side was "envisioned a much more efficient way to get in and out of that precinct".
Learmonth Road could also be overhauled into a 'landscaped boulevard' under the plan, in order to provide an attractive gateway into Ballarat CBD from the north.
