Preparing for growth

With a federal election around the corner, the City of Ballarat is calling for bipartisan support for several strategic projects that will ensure our city is ready for growth. Among them is a new library in Wendouree that would be the community heart for existing residents and for people moving to Ballarat’s rapidly growing northern suburbs.

Tucked away in a shopfront in the Stockland Shopping Centre, the current Wendouree Library is a beloved community facility. 

However, in this small space, the library does not have room to grow or expand its services to cater to existing community needs in Wendouree, nor the rapidly growing community in Ballarat’s northern suburbs.

“There are no separate meeting spaces, no toilets for staff or patrons, and very few computers available for community use,” Jenny Fink, City of Ballarat Libraries and Lifelong Learning Executive Manager, says.

"The existing community and growing northern suburbs desperately need a free space for community members to meet and socialise, study, relax, access the internet and learn life skills.”

That is why the City of Ballarat is planning to deliver a brand new, purpose-built library in Wendouree, located at Weeramar Park.

The Wendouree Library and Learning Centre will not only meet the needs of the community in Wendouree and surrounding suburbs today, it will also cater for the more than 18,000 people expected to make their homes in the northern growth area in Mount Rowan and Miners Rest in the next 10 to 15 years.

With the federal election just around the corner, a federal investment could be the first step in a three-way partnership with the State Government and City of Ballarat to deliver this important community project.

The Wendouree Library and Learning Centre is one of eight projects listed in Ballarat Now and Into the Future: Enabling Growth — a strategic document the City of Ballarat developed in partnership with several local organisations to advocate for state and federal funding.

Investment in the key projects listed in this document will contribute to a prosperous future and thriving economy for residents and businesses in Ballarat and the wider region. They will help preserve and enhance Ballarat’s liveability and create new jobs. Details on the eight projects are available on our Ballarat. Now and Into the Future: Enabling Growth 2025 page.

Partner organisations involved in Ballarat Now and Into the Future: Enabling Growth include Australian Catholic University Ballarat, Central Highlands Water, Commerce Ballarat, Committee for Ballarat, City of Ballarat, Federation University, Grampians Health, Sovereign Hill, and Tourism Midwest Victoria.

In January, the City of Ballarat welcomed a Federal Government funding announcement for the Eastwood Community Hub, one of the projects listed in the Ballarat Now and Into the Future: Enabling Growth document.

“Ahead of the federal election, we’re hoping all sides of politics will back the Wendouree Library and Learning Centre,” City of Ballarat CEO Evan King says.

“There really is nothing like it in the northern suburbs, and residents living in this area deserve to have access to a nearby accessible, safe, community facility like other suburbs in our city.”

Jenny and her team are dedicated to ensuring a new library for Ballarat’s northern suburbs meets the needs of the community.

That’s why library staff will begin community engagement in the coming weeks on site at Weeramar Park. The engagement will give library staff an opportunity to hear directly from community members about what they want and need from a new facility.

“We want this new library to reflect the community that will use it,” Jenny says.

Locals and library users are invited to step into the draft floorplan, which will be roughly mapped out, on site at the park to see what the new facility could include and provide feedback to designers.

“The idea is to help people imagine how they would use the library space before it is actually built,” Jenny says. 

“We encourage as many people as possible living in the surrounding areas to participate in the engagement and partner with us to build a beautiful new community heart for this area.”

• Ballarat Airport Strategy and Master Plan implementation
• Ballarat Co-Operative Education and Skills City Centre
• Ballarat West Growth Area – Housing Enabling Infrastructure
• Circular Economy Precinct
• Dyson Drive duplication
• Wendouree Library and Learning Centre
• Sovereign Hill Master Plan: Gold Vault
• FUNDED: Eastwood Community Hub