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''For the electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives, see Division of Ballarat.

Ballarat () is the largest inland city in Victoria, Australia, and the third largest inland city in Australia. It is approximately 105 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, with an urban population of 90,200 people. The city lies at 441 metres (1,447 feet) above sea level and consists of an area of approximately 740 square kilometres, with the city occupying a built up area of approximately 75 square kilometres.

History

The site of the city was originally a stock station established by William Cross Yuille and Henry Anderson in 1838 and named Ballarat (originally under the spelling Ballaarat), which was derived from local aboriginal dialect meaning 'resting place'. Settlement flourished in the early 1850s when gold was discovered. With a huge influx of population and wealth as a major participant in the Gold Rush, Ballarat was, for a time, Victoria's largest city.

Ballarat is notable as the site for Australia's only armed civil uprising, colloquially referred to as the Eureka Stockade but more correctly titled the Eureka Rebellion, which took place in 3 December 1854. The event, in which 22 miners died, is considered a defining moment in Australian history. The purpoted site of the rebellion contains an historical park and a memorial to the event. The remains of the original Eureka Flag are on public display in the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.

During the last 50 years of the 19th century Ballarat prospered on gold mining. The confidence of the city's early citizens is evident in the scale and opulence of many of the early public buildings, public recreational spaces, commercial establishments and housing. The period from the 1880's to the early 20th century witnessed a successful transition from a gold rush town to an industrial age city. Many industries and workshops that had been established as a result of manufacturing and servicing for the deep lead mining industry during the 19th century later made successful transition into engineering and manufacturing businesses throughout the 20th century.

In 1930 an aerodrome was established, which was expanded significantly as the RAAF School of Wireless and Air Gunners as well as the base for Liberator bomber aircraft during World War 2. During the war the airport was expanded and consisted of three sealed runways of which two were over 2000 m long and 45 m wide. Since the closure of the RAAF base in 1960 the airport has been considerably reduced in order to reduce operating costs. Control of the aerodrome was taken over by the Ballarat City Council.

After World War 2, Ballarat expanded significantly to the North West. An accute post war housing shortage was eased with the establishment of an extensive government housing estate on the former Ballarat Common (Today known as Wendouree West). The estate was originally planned to contain over 750 prefabricated houses. Whilst planning for the estate began in 1949, main construction occurred between 1951 to 1962. During the 1970's a further 300 houses were constructed. Private housing in the adjacent suburb of Wendouree closely matched and eventually eclipsed this by the mid 1960's. The suburb of greater Wendouree and Wendouree West had evolved by the 1970's as the suburban middle-class heart of the city.

From the late 1970's and early 1980's urban growth slowed in Wendouree and began expanding to the Southern and Western corridors of the city. In 2006 growth of the city is less concentrated to particular corridors and centred on developing large older inner city house blocks and under-developed inner city land in the East are being redeveloped to create higher density housing. Throughout the 20th century Ballarat maintained steady economic and population growth, keeping pace with that of the Australian national average without ever experiencing any significant growth surges. Steady population and economic growth has enabled the city to mature and preserve much of its historical grandeur and beauty whilst accommodating throughtful and modern development. Ballarat's modern architecture is thoughtfully designed to blend with the old with excellent examples being the City Library, the Law Courts and Justice Centre and the Ballarat Base Hospital.

Transport

Ballarat is linked directly to Melbourne by dual carriageway freeway. Regular high-speed train services also link directly to Melbourne. Ballarat is also served by an extensive public bus service and taxi system.

The city airport, located 8 km North-West of the CBD consists of two sealed runways (each approximately 1400 m length and 30 m wide) as well as extensive sealed aprons, night lighting and NDB Navaid. In 2005 the City of Ballarat commissioned a Master Plan 2004-2014, that outlined future development and growth of the Airport. The report made a series of recommendations and forecasts that included eventual lengthening, widening and strengthening of the existing main runway up to 1800 m, consideration for expansion of the passenger terminal and recommendations for future use of aprons and development of future structures supporting larger aircraft and increased frequent usage. It is forecast that by 2012-15 regular domestic passenger services using 40-50 seat commuter aircraft may feasibly commence.

The city maintained an electric tramway system until September 1971 when services were replaced by buses. A short section of track continues at the northern end of Lake Wendouree as a museum line operated by the Ballarat Tramway Museum. In recent times there have been studies conducted to reinstate sections of tram line or light rail to service key tourist routes and high usage bus services between the city and Wendouree.

Features

Ballarat is renowned for its decorative arts, especially applied to the built environment, combined with the gold rush, this has created a picturesque urban landscape. In 2003 Ballarat was the first of two Australian cities to be registered as a member of the International League of Historical Cities.

Grand Avenues & Boulevardes

Ballarat is notable for its very wide boulevardes. The main street is Sturt Street which is considered among one of the finest main avenues in Australia.

Ballarat is home to the largest of a collection of several Avenues of Honour in Victoria. The fifteen kilometre long Ballarat Avenue of Honour consists of a total of approximately 4000 trees, mostly deciduous which in many parts arch completely over the road. Each tree has a bronze plaque dedicated to a soldier from the Ballarat region who enlisted during the World War I.

Statues & Monuments

The city also has the greatest concentration of public statuary in any Australian city with many parks and streets featuring scupltures and statues dating from the 1860's to the present day. Some of the other unique memorials located in the city include a bandstand situated in the heart of the city that was funded and built by the City of Ballarat Band in 1913 as a tribute to the bandsmen of the RMS Titanic, a fountain dedicated to the early explorers Burke and Wills, and those dedicated to Monarchs and those who have played pivotal roles in the development of the city and it's rich social fabric.

War Memorials

Ballarat has an extensive array of significant war memorials, the most recent of which is the Australian Ex Prisoner of War Memorial. The most prominent memorial in the city is the Ballarat Victory Arch that spans the old Western Highway on the Western approaches of the city. The archway serves as the focal point for the Avenue of Honour. Other significant individual monuments located alond Sturt Street include those dedicated to the Boer War (1899-1901), World War II (1939-1945), and Vietnam (1962-1972).

Parks & Gardens

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens are amongst the finest Botanical Gardens in Australia with extensive varieties of native and introduced species of plants and trees. Lake Wendouree hosted the rowing events for the 1956 Summer Olympics, and is a large recreational lake created out of former wetlands. The gardens are home to the annual Ballarat Begonia Festival, and feature a modern glasshouse and horticultural centre. Also of note is the Prime-Ministers' Walk which features bronze busts of every Australian Prime Minister.

The town is also home to the award winning tourist park Sovereign Hill, a recreated 1850's gold mining settlement.

Architectural Heritage

The legacy of the wealth generated during Ballarat's gold boom is still visible in a large number of fine stone buildings in and around the city, especially in the Lydiard Street area which contains some of Victoria's finest examples of Victorian era buildings- many of which are on the Victorian Heritage Register or classified by the National Trust of Australia.

Notable civic buildings include the Town Hall (1870-72), the Post Office (1864), Her Majesty's Theatre (1875), The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (1887), the Mechanics Institute (1860, 1869), the Queen Victoria Wards of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1890's), and the Ballarat railway station (1862, 1877, 1888).

Ballarat has what is considered to be the greatest concentration of historic architectural cast iron lace building decoration in the world with lacework adorning many public buildings, commercial establishments and houses. Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to restore or rebuild some of the more signicant cast iron lace verandahs that were torn down in the 1960's. The most recent significant projects include the rebuilding of the 1914 Mechanics Institute verandah and the restoration of the former Unicorn Hotel facade.

Industry and Employment

Ballarat's major industries include tourism and hospitality, textiles, small engineering, food products, brick and tile manufacture, building, prefabricated housing, automotive components, education and information technology services.

Other major sectors of employment in the city include retailing, service industries, state and federal government branch offices and agencies and health care.

Media

Newspapers

Ballarat has two local newspapers, both owned by Rural Press Limited, 'The Courier' is a daily, and the 'Ballarat News' is a weekly.

Radio Stations

Local radio stations include '3BA' (AM), 'Power FM' and also several community radio stations. There are also local branches of ABC-run ABC Radio, Triple J and ABC Classic FM.

  • 3BA 102.3 FM (local "classic hits" commercial radio station)
  • Power FM 103.1 FM (local "top-40" commercial radio station)
  • Voice FM 99.9 FM (local community-access radio station)
  • Triple J 107.1 FM (Government-funded Youth Radio)
  • ABC Local Radio 107.9 FM (Government-funded local news, current affairs, light entertainment and talkback)
  • ABC Radio National 621AM (Government-funded, mostly news and talkback)
  • ABC Classic FM 105.5 FM (Government-funded, classical music station)
  • Gospel Radio 103.9 FM (Non-denominational community-based religious station)

Television

Ballarat established its first radio station (3BA) in 1930 and its first television station (BTV 6) began transmissions in 1962. Today Ballarat is serviced by five 'free to air' High Definition and Standard Definition Digital television services. Two television broadcasting stations are located in the city including WIN (a sub-licensee of Nine Network) and PRIME (a sub-licensee of Seven Network). These two stations broadcast relayed services throughout regional Victoria. The city also receives Southern Cross Ten (a sub-licensee of Network Ten) that is based in Bendigo but operates a local office. Ballarat television maintains a similar schedule to the national television network but maintains local demographic commercials and local/regional news. In addition to commercial television services, Ballarat receives Government ABC and SBS television services.

Subscription television services are provided by Neighbourhood Cable, and Austar.

Education

The University of Ballarat is the premier education institution in the city. The university consists of three campuses. Two of these are located in the city, while the main campus is located at Mount Helen, approximately 6 km southeast of the city at the foot of Mount Buninyong.

Ballarat has six state government secondary schools, of which Ballarat High School (established in 1910) is the oldest. Additionally, there are six private (Church owned and operated) boarding schools that provide education from Years 1 to 12. The oldest school in Ballarat is that of Loreto College, a girls college which was founded in 1875 and has many historical buildings and much heritage that remains present to this day.

Ballarat has several public libraries. The largest and most extensive is the City of Ballarat Library which is located in Creswick Road. Another unique library service is provided by the Mechanics Institute in Sturt Street which contains an excellent collection of historic, archival and rare reference material.

Arts & Culture

Galleries

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery houses one of Australia's oldest and most extensive collections of early Australian works. It is considered to have the best Australian collections outside any capital city in Australia.

Performing Arts

Ballarat has a lively and well established theatrical community with several local ensembles as well as a number of large performing arts venues. Major performing arts venues include:

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Ballarat, Victoria".

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