Council
14 February, 2025
Advocacy high on council agenda
PRESENTING Warrnambool City Council’s priority projects to key Victorian and Federal politicians will be a focal point for councillors in 2025.
“This is all about getting the best possible outcomes for Warrnambool,” mayor Cr Ben Blain said.
Cr Blain and CEO Andrew Mason recently returned from an advocacy trip to Canberra that included meetings with several Senators.
This included Senator for Victoria Raff Ciccone, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development the Hon Bridget McKenzie, and Minister for Climate Change and Energy the Hon Chris Bowen.
Discussions were also held with Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien, member for Wannon Dan Tehan and Shadow Minister for Regional Education Darren Chester.
“We know that with elections looming the Victorian and Australian governments will be looking to make investments into communities that have great projects in the pipeline and compelling reasons for those projects,” Cr Blain said.
“We’ve got a number of projects and collaborations that are conceptually well developed and which have strong strategic foundations.
“The next stage of the Brierly Recreation Reserve redevelopment – the proposed community hub – has a convincing business case and contains elements that the community asked for including versatile spaces that could be for meetings or the delivery of services.
“We have a detailed aquatic strategy that proposes a staged redevelopment of AquaZone.”
Cr Blain said this project was particularly important because Warrnambool was growing and it needed an aquatic centre that was able to meet the needs of a growing city.
“Upgrading AquaZone in stages makes this a more affordable funding proposition and allows us to tackle the most pressing issue which is replacement of the 50m outdoor pool that is nearing the end of its useful life,” Cr Blain said.
“The second stage will be an upgrade of the indoor pools and fitness spaces to increase capacity and functionality.”
He also added that housing availability remained an issue for Warrnambool and the region.
“We’ll advocate for more housing funding following a successful bid last year which saw Warrnambool receive $5m for key work housing to be built within the Shipwreck Bay Holiday Park,” he said.
“Council also recognises that a number of Victorian Government arterial roads are in poor condition including Mortlake Road and the Princes Highway - and we’ll continue to work with other councils in the region to press the government to improve the maintenance and renewal of its road network.
“We also have plans to strengthen the historic Breakwater which will be a significant engineering effort that will need Victorian Government support.
“Advocacy around Lady Bay and the foreshore also includes supporting a push for a new building to house the surf lifesaving club.
“Then there are the other projects we have worked on with the community and the Victorian Government such as the safety improvements at the intersection of Raglan Parade and Hider and Ardlie streets.”
Cr Blain said that while there was now a supervised crossing, there was a further stage to add traffic lights that would make the intersection safer.
“We have collaborations with the South West Alliance, which comprises the municipalities of Warrnambool, Moyne, Corangamite, Glenelg, Southern Grampians and Colac-Otway.
“These include advocating for a Centre of Excellence in Early Years Education and Wellbeing to help resolve workforce shortages and a Clean Energy Centre of Excellence that offers training and research facilities to help in the transition to a clean energy economy.”
