Over time the needs and expectations of communities can change, therefore councils need to have robust processes for service planning and review to ensure all services continue to provide value for money and are in line with community expectations.

The Council Plan 2025-2029 sets out the City of Ballarat’s strategic direction for the next four years, translating the aspirations of the Community Vision 2025-2035 into clear goals, actions, and measurable outcomes. This plan outlines how Council will lead, invest, and collaborate to shape a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable Ballarat.

There is an opportunity to engage with Council at the start of the budget process, this input will help inform the budget development to ensure Council is aware of residents’ priorities within the context of the Council Plan. The annual budget funds delivery of Council services and the ongoing maintenance of existing Council assets as well as upgrading and building new assets to meet the needs of a growing city.

Ongoing engagement themes will feed into budget considerations, Council seeks feedback on its Council Plan and Strategic Plans and engages with the community through initiatives such as the Let’s Chat expo and Councilor roadshows for all wards.

Why we have a Council Plan

Community needs and expectations change over time. A Council Plan ensures services, projects and priorities continue to provide value for money and reflect community expectations.

The current plan

The Council Plan 2025–2029 sets the City of Ballarat’s direction for the next four years. It translates the aspirations of the Community Vision 2025–2035 into clear goals, actions and measurable outcomes.

Link to the budget

The annual budget is how Council funds delivery of services, maintains existing assets and invests in new projects to support a growing city. Feedback received during the budget process helps ensure Council is aware of community priorities within the context of the Council Plan.

Ongoing engagement

Council regularly seeks community input through initiatives such as the Let’s Chat Expo and Councillor roadshows. This ongoing engagement helps inform the Council Plan and future budgets.

Community engagement for the Council Plan 2025 – 2029 and Community Vision 2025 – 20235 commenced in October 2024 with a series of widely advertised in person sessions conducted across the municipality. Gathering feedback and input was supported by the option of completing a hard copy or online survey.

This initial engagement was then followed up by the establishment of a community panel. The Community Panel comprised of 43 randomly selected participants from a recruitment process. Participants met over three face-to-face sessions between February and March 2025. The Community Panel’s primary task was to respond to the following remit, in order to help the City of Ballarat formulate our strategic plans.

REMIT

The future of Ballarat is set for significant growth, with the population projected to increase and change in demographic profile. The Community Vision sets out our aspirations for Ballarat’s future, however we must ensure we are supporting the Ballarat we know today, while planning for the changing needs of our community.

What should Council do to prioritise and balance our services, infrastructure and finances to best support our community?

The Community Panel worked together to revise the Community Vision and write a set of principles in their own words. All Community Panel members had the opportunity to contribute to the writing and refining of each principle.

The final report consisted of:

• A brief introduction
• The updated Community Vision 2025-2035
• A set of principles.

At the conclusion of their final session the Community Panel handed over their report to Councillor Tracey Hargreaves (Mayor) and Evan King (Chief Executive Officer).

The process involved:

• a clear question (remit) to focus the deliberations and access to a broad range of information from a variety of sources relevant to the remit.
• conversations and Q&A’s with City of Ballarat staff.
• 17 hours per person of discussion and deliberations across three Community Panel sessions.
• support from facilitators experienced in delivering deliberative processes.
• an online portal that provided a central place for participants to access relevant information inputs.
• group agreement processes where 80% or more of the Community Panel said they could live with it or better was used as a guiding principle.

How the plans were shaped

Community engagement for the Council Plan 2025–2029 and Community Vision 2025–2035 began in October 2024. Council held a series of advertised sessions across the municipality, supported by hard copy and online surveys.

Community Panel

A randomly selected panel of 43 community members met over three sessions between February and March 2025. Their task was to help Council prioritise and balance services, infrastructure and finances to support Ballarat’s growth.

What the panel delivered

• An updated Community Vision 2025–2035
• A set of principles written in their own words
• A final report handed to Council in March 2025

Why this matters for the budget

The Council Plan and Community Vision set the direction for Council’s work. The annual budget allocates funding to deliver on these priorities, meaning the budget already reflects extensive community input.

Revenue to fund our services is raised via rates, user fees, and government funding. Rates and user fees collected makes up around 70% of generated income, while Council seeks government grant funding assistance to reduce the burden on ratepayers as much as possible. Rates revenue is designed to raise adequate funds to bridge the gap after service delivery costs and capital works programs have been identified, resulting in Council delivering a balanced budget each year. Approximately 70% of revenue received is directed towards the delivery of Council services, with the remaining 30% allocated to capital works.

Council is responsible for managing over $2.5 billion of community assets and delivering over 80 different services including:

• Collecting kerbside bins and running the landfill
• Cleaning streets and fixing local roads
• Keeping the community and environment healthy
• Planning new buildings and developments
• Supporting tourism and visitors
• Hosting public events and activities
• Looking after parks, gardens, and sports areas
• Helping families with maternal and child health
• Running early learning centres and aquatic facilities
• Managing venues like the Art Gallery, Her Majesty’s Theatre and Civic Hall
• Regulatory compliance such as Animal management and Food safety

Capital Works Program

The City of Ballarat has also made a deliberate decision to focus on the core services and infrastructure upgrades that deliver the greatest benefits to our community.

Roads, community hubs, sports, arts and leisure facilities, and outdoor spaces are among the major contributors to a vibrant and thriving community. As such, we are committed to the maintenance and upgrade of these assets including parks, roads, sporting facilities and libraries.

Where the money comes from

Council raises revenue through rates, user fees and government funding. Around 70% of income comes from rates and user fees, with Council actively seeking grants to help reduce the burden on ratepayers. This revenue is used to cover the cost of delivering services and funding capital works, ensuring a balanced budget each year.

How the money is spent

• About 70% goes to delivering over 80 everyday services, such as:
  • Kerbside bin collection and waste management
  • Maintaining local roads and cleaning streets
  • Parks, gardens and sports areas
  • Maternal and child health and family services
  • Early learning centres and libraries
  • Aquatic facilities and arts venues (Art Gallery, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Civic Hall)
  • Tourism, events and visitor services •
  • Regulatory services such as animal management and food safety
• Around 30% goes to capital works, including upgrades and new projects that support Ballarat’s growth.

Managing community assets

Council manages almost $2.5 billion in community assets. The budget ensures these assets are maintained and upgraded, with a focus on core services and infrastructure that deliver the greatest benefit - such as roads, community hubs, sporting facilities, libraries and outdoor spaces.

Council faces the same environment of cost escalation pressures as experienced by the general public — the cost to deliver services and build and maintain assets across the municipality continues to increase. If we can’t increase our revenue, we would be unable to keep up with the growth within our region and maintain service quality. This would make it harder each year to keep providing the services the community needs with the money that we have.

To prepare a financially sustainable budget, we need to ensure it can fund the core services and strategic objectives contained in the Council Plan, along with any additional initiatives.

This will require Council to consider such variables as borrowings, new cost efficiencies and the level of revenue we are able to raise within the rate cap which is set by the State Government.

Rising costs

Like households, Council faces cost increases for goods, services and construction. The cost of delivering services and maintaining assets continues to rise.

Keeping up with growth

As Ballarat grows, Council must balance the community’s needs with the money available. Without raising revenue, it becomes harder each year to maintain service quality and keep up with demand.

Balancing the budget

To stay financially sustainable, the budget must fund Council’s core services and deliver on the priorities in the Council Plan. This means considering:

• Borrowings
• New cost efficiencies
• How much revenue can be raised within the State Government’s rate cap

• Customer Service; for requests or information enquiries, contact us via phone, in-person, or lodge a request using the Snap Send Solve app.
• Councillor Roadshows; Councillors regularly host "Let's Chat" drop-in sessions within their wards, check the website for details.
• Attend a Council meeting; meetings start at 6:30pm every fourth Wednesday at the Ballarat Town Hall.
• Stay informed; via the website, MySay platform, Facebook and other communication channels.
• Community Grants; Council has several grant programs to support our community.
• Be involved; with feedback on plans & strategies.