Phase One engagement for the City Oval Precinct Masterplan has now concluded, with strong participation from community members, sporting clubs and key stakeholders.
City Oval is one of Ballarat’s most significant sporting and community precincts, with a history dating back more than 125 years. The masterplan will provide a clear 10-year vision to guide future upgrades and improvements while preserving the precinct’s heritage character and ensuring it remains accessible, safe and welcoming for all users.
What Phase One focused on
Phase One engagement sought to understand:
- How the precinct is currently used
- Community aspirations for its future
- Priorities for improvement across sport, recreation and public space
Engagement activities included stakeholder meetings, targeted sessions with cultural groups and advisory committees, letterbox drops, social media promotion and the MySay platform.
Who we heard from
- Over 150 individual survey responses
- 15 group submissions
- Multiple face-to-face sessions with community members and key stakeholders
What we heard
Several consistent themes emerged through the engagement process:
- Accessibility and inclusivity: improved paths, accessible toilets and female-friendly change rooms
- Sporting infrastructure: upgrades to football and netball facilities, including a second netball court and modernised change rooms
- Public amenities: distributed toilets, seating, shade and drinking water
- Community activation: opportunities for markets, cultural events and passive recreation
- Safety and connectivity: better lighting, improved traffic flow and safer pedestrian access
- Heritage preservation: maintaining and enhancing the grandstand and mature trees
- Shared use: multipurpose spaces such as Saxon House for clubs and community functions
What happens next?
Using the insights gathered through Phase One, Council will now appoint a consultant to prepare a draft masterplan reflecting community priorities where possible and aligning with strategic objectives.
Phase Two engagement will then provide an opportunity for the community and stakeholders to review and provide feedback on the draft masterplan before it is finalised and presented to Council for consideration in 2026.
Read the full Phase One Engagement Report here.
Thank you for sharing your ideas for the City Oval Masterplan. The first phase of the engagement has closed. We're reviewing your feedback to shape the draft City Oval Masterplan. We are consolidating the feedback into an Engagement Summary report which will be published in Feburary 2026.
Stay updated by clicking 'follow' button in the heading. We look forward to engaging again with community on the draft masterplan in April 2026.
The City Oval Precinct Masterplan is focused on shaping the future of one of Ballarat’s most significant sporting and community locations. With a history dating back to 1898 and a strong tradition of hosting football, netball, lawn bowls, athletics and community and cultural events, the precinct remains a central gathering space for our community.
Recent upgrades, including improved change rooms, have addressed some needs, but further planning is required to ensure the precinct continues to meet modern standards for accessibility, safety, and inclusivity. The masterplan seeks to enhance the precinct's functionality, accessibility, and amenity for a wide range of users, while preserving its heritage significance and role as a key community and recreation precinct.
Project Overview
Find out more about the City Oval precinct, past works, heritage implications and how are engaging on the Masterplan project
We want to understand how the community use the precinct and its facilities, the activities that you value, and what improvements or additions would make it a vibrant, inclusive, and functional space for everyone. Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback with us in Phase One. We will share an engagement summary with the community in February 2026.
There were a variety of ways that the community were involved:
