February 10th, 2024Paving the way for Ballarat’s footpaths of the future

The City of Ballarat is developing a Footpath Construction Strategy to guide how it prioritises and funds where new footpaths are built with two community pop-up sessions taking place today.

Footpaths are important to the local community and play a vital role in keeping residents and visitors active, safe and connected to others and to community facilities, services, public transport and open spaces.  

Once completed, the Footpath Construction Strategy will outline a framework that prioritises where new footpaths are needed most, where sealing of existing unsealed footpaths should take place and identifying missing links in the city’s footpath network.  

The City of Ballarat currently has 844 kilometres of existing footpaths. However, there are about 600 kilometres of “missing footpaths” in the municipality which is estimated would cost about $100 million to construct.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said with an annual budget of about $900,000 for the construction of new footpaths, the city needs to prioritise which footpaths are built.  

“Footpaths are important to everyone however with limited funds, we need to prioritise where new footpaths are built,” he said.

“We encourage you to provide your feedback about how you use local footpaths and what new footpath links are important to you.

“Join the conversation and help shape where and when we build new footpaths. You can also mark on an interactive map where you think new footpaths should be constructed.”

Feedback from the community will help inform the Draft Footpath Construction Strategy. The community will be invited to provide feedback on the Draft Strategy through a second phase of community consultation.  

The council says all feedback will be considered in the development of the final Footpath Construction Strategy, which will then be presented to the council for consideration.  

Residents can provide feedback on the construction of new footpaths until 5pm, Sunday 3 March via the council’s online mysay platform.

There are also two community pop-up sessions where interested locals can share their feedback with the City of Ballarat team in person today, Saturday 10 February at:

• Ballarat Farmers Market, Zoo Drive, Lake Wendouree, from 9am-12pm and
• Skate Park Leagues Competition, Ballarat Skate Park, Main Road and Barkly Street, from 2-4pm.

The City of Ballarat’s 2023-2024 footpath construction program will build 13 footpaths, including a footpath of approximately 220 metres in Raglan Street (Miners Rest), extending from Sharpes Road to near Howe Street.

This footpath is intended to provide greater access to a nearby early learning centre and a public bus stop.