Beaufort in Focus: why this town is experiencing a changing trend

Beaufort, about half an hour from Ballarat, has a developing cafe and produce scene drawing on the best of the region.

Two new cafes have opened in the past month, an award winning grocer is enticing customers from as far as Ararat and the Vegemite museum has spread open its hours while launching a superfan club for the salty icon.

The Beaufort district had a population nearing 4700, the latest Census data showed. This is a modest rise on the 2016 data but anecdotally, business owners have found energy in the town changing.

Pyrenees mayor Ron Eason said this was no longer about trying to get people to keep calling into the town, but catering to more people wanting to stay.

"We're finding people want to live in that sort of area, a small country town outside Ballarat," Cr Eason said. "We have new housing developments that we're looking at all the time in planning. Beaufort has the train, it's on the end of the current dual highway and is easy to get to.

"...This is a community were everybody works together and keeps the place ticking over."

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Cr Eason said volunteers were at the heart of Beaufort. This included the town's Parkrun marking its one-year anniversary on August 26 of joining the global, free five-kilometre running movement.

Public servant turned cafe owner Katie Gleisner has had the community rally behind her first foray into hospitality, wanting to create a creative, live music scene for a growing, younger demographic in town.

Ms Gleisner and Beaufort grocer Steph Staib have been drawing on products they like in Ballarat because they believe people in the wider district should not have to travel into Ballarat all the time.

At the same time, the town's goldrush heritage continues to take pride of place. This includes what started as a pub band preparing to celebrate 150 years.

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