Stage 2 underway at Ballarat West Employment Zone

It’s not until you visit, do you truly understand how vast the Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is! At approximately 400ha of Crown land at Mitchell Park, Ballarat, it remains on track to be an engine room for the region’s jobs and economic growth.

BWEZ comprises of the following precincts:

• Acacia is a residential land development of 92 lots
• Stage 1 & 1B are now complete, comprising of a range of industrial businesses across 23 lots
• Stage 2 is the industrial precinct, north of Airport Road. It features lots adjacent to the Ballarat Airport, perfect for aviation businesses.
• Stage 3 comprises two stages – Stage 3A compromises of two large lots, and Stage 3B is being investigated as a future Circular Economy Precinct
• Stage 4 located adjacent the main entrance to Ballarat Airport, and will form a future industrial land development
• Intermodal Freight Hub comprises of four serviced lots on approximately 18 hectares of freehold land with direct access to the future Ballarat Intermodal Freight Hub Terminal.

Our project team were on site to check on the status of civil works on Stage 2.

The contractor has prepared large trenches that will hold enormous concrete culverts that are part of the area’s water drainage system.

Due to the enormous size of the Stage 2 works, the contractors have elected to over-excavate the trench and make it safe by tiering the edges down rather than using removable shoring controls.

This allows safe working within and even vehicles to enter and exit as required. In-ground services (water, gas, electrical and NBN) are also being installed, as well as preparing the internal roads by preparing the subgrade - the natural soil or compacted fill material that is placed beneath the concrete to provide support, stability, and uniform bearing capacity.

As well as the new infrastructure being built in Stage 2, there are already established businesses in the completed Stage 1 and 1B of the Precinct, including CHS Broadbent; Kane Transport; Luv-A-Duck; Westlab and Athlegen just to name a few.

Stage 1 and Stage 1B is now complete, and there are 22 land lots available for business in Stage 2. Together, these stages will create approximately 1200 full-time equivalent jobs in Ballarat.

BWEZ is a $30 million joint initiative being delivered by Development Victoria on behalf of Regional Development Victoria (RDV).

To find out more, visit the BWEZ project page.