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Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre

Community Development - Delacombe

Delacombe Growth and Renewal

Delacombe forms a large part of the Ballarat West Growth Area and has a high concerntration of social housing and first home buyers. In the past ten years, growth in this suburb has exploded with over 12,000 people expected to call Delacombe home by 2030.

Delacombe has also been impacted by several neighbourhood renewal and engagement projects in the past twenty years. Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre commenced their first Delacombe community engagement project in 2012 resulting in the development of the Delacombe Community Action plan 2013-2017.  Click the plan below to read all about the wonderful achievements from this great project.

Following the Community Action Plan

An outcome of the plan was the formation of the Delacombe Chairs Forum (DCF) to manage the community engagement activities and advocate on behalf of the residents. Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre also published a regular community newsletter to inform residents of what was happening in the suburb.

Following completion of this initial plan, Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre assisted the City of Ballarat with master planning for the Doug Dean Reserve upgrades during 2018. The DCF members have continued to advocate for the community thoughout the next few years whilst major upgrades to local infrastructure happened at the Reserve.

In 2019, the DCF started working with Homes Victoria as part of the state governments Big Housing Build project 'to transform the Leawarra neighbourhood in Delacombe into a vibrant, family friendly and well-connected community'. The pandemic delayed this project, with the first of the new homes completed in 2023. Click here to learn more about the Delacombe Big Housing Build project.

Delacombe Community Hub

In July 2023, Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre took over management of the Delacombe Community Hub and started working to reactivate this building for the community. We have started 2024 moving several of our activities to the Hub, including our JP's, some ACFE classes, the Community Support Register and our weekly walking group and Chatty Cafe. 

The Delacombe Community Hub is also available for use by community groups and can be hired for small meetings and group activities. The community garden has been neglected for several years and will need to be rebuilt from scratch. This is a longer term project and one we are excited to be involved in.

Delacombe Chairs Forum

The Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre is a key partner, and convenor of the Delacombe Chairs Forum (DCF). Other partners include Delacombe Primary School, Phoenix P-12 Community College, Lumen Christi Primary School, YMCA Delacombe, The Salvation Army Delacombe, the Delacombe Walking Group, Ballarat Community Health, City of Ballarat and other sports and community groups.

The DCF uses a collaborative leadership approach to influence people and organisations working on projects to make a positive impact on the lives of people living, working and learning in Delacombe.

Prior to 2020, the DCF was meeting regularly, to listen to the community about emerging issues and look for opportunities to initiate projects that make Delacombe a better place to live, work and learn. There are plans to restart the DCF in 2024 as the Big Housing Build draws to a close, we will be looking at what next for this community.

Newsletters

For several years the Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre created a quarterly newsletter highlighting Delacombe community activities and events. However in 2021, a change in funding and a lack of interest from our partners and the community, saw the newsletter cease. We have plans to restart the newsletter in 2024, so watch this space.

Click here to view the back copies of the newsletter.