Construction is well under way on a new community centre on Donegal Drive in Ballarat's growing western suburbs.
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The facility, referred to as the Alfredton Community Hub, will feature a three-room kindergarten which will accommodate 99 children as well as three other multipurpose community spaces.
The Alfredton Community Hub aims to cater to the families in Ballarat's west, as births in the area are expected to increase by 65 per cent and the number of families with dependent children to increase by 157 per cent by 2036.
The area's entire population could grow by as much as 73 per cent, the Community Infrastructure Plan 2022-2037 states.
As residential areas in the west continue to develop, more infrastructure is needed, with bus stops being built and a new supermarket in Winter Valley to support the area's new residents.
Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said facilities like the Community Hub aimed to help Ballarat's young children with "school readiness". "It's important for their brain development, and it's really for important for their socialisation skills," she said.
It's really important that you get the infrastructure right
- Cr Des Hudson
City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said projects like the Community Hub in areas of growth were important, adding "it's really important that you get the infrastructure right and part of that infrastructure is also community facilities, places of learning, (and) places of recreation".
The facility is one of six the council plans to construct over the next decade, with the Wendouree Neighbourhood Centre completed earlier this year and plans in place to build community hubs in Buninyong and Ballarat Central by 2025.
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The City of Ballarat funded the project with $4.68 million from the Ballarat West Developer Contributions Plan and a further $3 million from the 2023-24 Budget.
The state government contributed $2.25 million to the project.
The Alfredton Community Hub is expected to open in early 2024.
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