Ballarat City

Overview

Overall Area13,977 hectares
Population76,948
Climate672 mm per annum at Ballarat
Main TownsBallarat
Land UseResidential
Manufacturing
Commercial
Education
Agriculture
Main IndustriesManufacturing
Commercial
Education
Agriculture
Tourism
Main Natural FeaturesLake Wendouree
Woowookarung Regional Park
Yarrowee River
Map of the Ballarat City Landscape System including link to NRM Portal
Click on map to access Natural Resource Management Portal interactive mapping

Landscape

Ballarat is the second largest urban centre within the region and has a population of around 110,000 and is forecast to grow to be approximately 150,000 by the early 2030s. The Traditional Owners are the Wadawurrung.

An important asset to Ballarat is Lake Wendouree, a man-made lake covering 200 hectares, located a couple of kilometres west of the town centre. Lake Wendouree is on the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia, is also a significant recreational lake for locals and visitors alike, having hosted international level rowing, fishing and yachting events.

An important waterway within the Ballarat landscape system is the Yarrowee River, a key tributary to the Leigh River, which feeds into the Barwon. Part of the Yarrowee River flows through Ballarat’s central business district and was directed underground through a bluestone-lined channel.

The Ballarat City landscape system covers the urban centre of Ballarat, the largest inland city within Victoria and the second largest city within the Coragamite CMA region. Surrounded entirely by the Northern Uplands to the west, south and east, its northern border is the edge of the CCMA boundary. Ownership is mostly private urban land, but there are a number of small public land parcels within the urban area – many of which are public reserves for recreation. Main parks and reserves are the Mullawallah Wetlands Nature Conservation Reserve to the north west, the Woowookarung Regional Park to the southeast and Lake Wendouree in central Ballarat.

Livelihood

Like Geelong, Ballarat is principally an area for manufacturing, education, service provision, retail, tourism and residential activities.  There is also limited agriculture, viticulture and horticulture occurring in the peri-urban areas around the city.

Lifestyle

As this landscape system is contained entirely within the Ballarat local government area, the majority of the community is urban based.  Ballarat is the most densely populated, and smallest landscape system by area in the region. The portion of population of the urban Ballarat City area within the Corangamite region is over 71,000 (other portions occur in the Glenelg Hopkins and North Central regions).

There is extensive peri-urban settlement surrounding the City of Ballarat.

Lake Wendouree