Commonwealth Games contract severed for Victoria: missed opportunity for Ballarat

Committee for Ballarat chief executive Michael Poulton said in a statement the committee continued to be disappointed about the cancellation of the games.

The government will spend $380 million in taxpayer money to terminate the games contract. .

Treasure Tim Pallas said this would come out of the original budget for the games, which was $2.6 billion set aside in the 2022/23 budget.

Mr Poulton said the settlement agreement meant the committee now had the "green light" to work with the government "to ensure the key promises are delivered for Ballarat and our region".

Premier Daniel Andrews announced they would be cancelling the games in July because costs had risen to $6 or $7 billion rather than the $2.6 billion budgeted.

Mr Pallas said supply chain issues and the increased cost of construction from interest rate rises had influenced the rising costs.

Infrastructure projects committed for the Commonwealth Games will still go ahead.

This includes upgrades to expand seating at Mars Stadium, building a new athletics track on the showgrounds site and building sporting facilities in Miners Rest.

Upgrades to make the Ballarat Station disability compliant will also go ahead, although funding for this project is separate to the $2.6 billion set aside for the games.

The state government did not share a timeline for these projects' expected completion when asked by The Courier.

A spokesperson said "all will be completed as planned".

It is understood train station upgrades are in the initial stages of development.

City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said they will continue to work with the government to ensure Ballarat's legacy projects are delivered.

"We will keep applying that pressure, ideally for those 2026 timelines," he said.

Mr Poulton said the committee and other stakeholders were disappointed an inner-city medium density village for the games was "not seriously considered".

"It was the urban renewal project that got away and one that was totally aligned to the City of Ballarat Bakery Hill Master Plan," he said.

Mr Pallas said the limited land options available for athlete accommodation contributed to the cost blowouts.

"There were limited locations, for example in Ballarat ... some of these locations would not have been suitable for permanent housing," he said.

"This was not attractive for the private sector to partner with us."

Mr Poulton said an inner city development could have had backing from the private sector.

An athletes village closer to the centre of Ballarat had backing from developers and planners in May 2022.

While there will be no need for a village now, the state government has committed $1 billion for housing in regional Victoria.

Mr Andrews said he expected this will equate to 1300 houses but hopes to build more with the money.

Housing experts have told The Courier it is a perfect time to show how higher density housing close to services like shops and public transport can work in the regions.

A government spokesperson said they would be working with "councils and regional partnerships to determine the right mix of stock and location for each region".

They could not commit to more housing for the Ballarat region.

New documents released by the state government outlined an earlier plan for the games.

These original plans were to host T20 cricket at Eastern Oval and BMX freestyle event at a temporary venue.

The state government also intended to build new infrastructure in Buninyong to host mountain bike riding.

Liberal member for Western Victoria Joe McCracken said the third Ballarat train platform and decontamination of the saleyards in Delacombe were the two projects he would like to see received funding.

"The promise was made to remediate that site, level it off, decontaminate it, and make it useable. I hope there's still a plan in place for that," Mr McCracken said.

Last week Mr McCracken was appointed deputy chair of the legislative council inquiry into the Commonwealth Games.

He said he wanted to get to the truth of what happened with the games and feared there would be more costs associated with cancelling the games.

The state government have not made a commitment to decontaminating the sale yards site but have said they will work with the Ballarat community to identify opportunities.

Council conducted community consultation for the future of the site in 2019.

Cr Hudson said now the king's caveat had been lifted he thinks it would be worthwhile to have more discussions about what the site could be.

"Because of its size, and scale, this will be critically important to the future of Ballarat, not only now, but for the next 50 to 60 years," he said.

"It is in a fairly active industrial and commercial precinct."

"There's lots of people that have that have commented saying, at some point when Ballarat will require a third hospital is that the site because it will have ample space and parking."

"I think they're all really great conversations to have."

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