Ballarat councillors attend local government conference in Canberra

The National General Assembly 2023 saw councillors, CEOs and public servants from across the country converge on the capital, with this year's theme being 'Our Communities, Our Future'.

The assembly's program included various speeches and seminars delivered on governance, as well as visits from prime minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton .

City of Ballarat councillor Ben Taylor said securing the critical Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program was at the top of most attendees' priorities.

The program provides a federal pool of money to local councils to complete road projects, with the City of Ballarat granted $2,417,119 from the program most recent funding allocation.

"That is a critical piece of money that we use. We don't want that to change. All councils really rely on that, especially the smaller ones that don't have big budgets," Cr Taylor said.

"For us, that is critical. We get nervous as governments run out of money, making sure they don't cut those critical funding streams to local government."

Cr Taylor said the event was a good opportunity to talk shop with other councillors about urban planning, and how best to keep the community invested.

"I found the discussions about engaging the community to be very intriguing, and what the community's appetite for change is," Cr Taylor said.

"As a city now, we are talking about change. Government is saying they want more infill development, so how do we then have that discussion with the community.

"We learned from other councils across Australia about what they did, especially some of those growth councils."

It comes as Ballarat continues through a strong uptick in green field and infill developments to match its growing population.

Examples can be seen in suburbs such as Delacombe, with a 2021 population of just under 11,000 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, up 6000 from ten years prior.

"How does the community feel about that, what is their sentiment, and how can we work with them to make them aware of what is happening?," Cr Taylor said.

"We are doing our housing strategy at the moment, hopefully that will be out in the next month, or two months, about what this means for a city when we look at growth and then what that means from suburban Ballarat.

"What is the infill, how much is needed to meet growth, and then what does that mean to local communities in their streets and area.

"It is more around the challenges of how we deal with it, and making sure the community moves with us."

At the national assembly, Prime Minster Albanese announced a new $100 million clean energy package to go out to local governments across Australia, to reduce emissions.

The fund was touted as a way to help community facilities such as sporting centres and swimming pools transition to renewables, saving money on their energy bills in the long run.

Cr Taylor welcomed the money, but questioned whether the $100 million figure would be enough to cover enough ground across the county.

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"If we are lucky it might only give us a couple of hundred thousand for Ballarat, but we will take that and use it because we would love to achieve getting to that point of getting zero percent for the city, carbon neutral.

"I reckon our number one project should be the aquatic centre, not only is it using gas, and from a carbon point of view that is pretty bad.

"Other options would be around facilities like footy and cricket clubs, and putting solar on those venues."

It is not yet clear how much councils in the Ballarat region will receive from the new package, with discussions about funds ongoing.

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