QLD Is Ballarat the next big thing??

What they neglected to say in the sensationalist headline is that the drug tests are targeted to those that police already suspect are drug impaired and not random like breath testing.

"Inspector Cornwill said targeted drug testing of drivers meant police were likely to see a high level of positive results.

“We don’t do as many drug tests as we do drink driving. There is a chance of getting a high return because we are target testing, picking out people who we can see that are drug affected,” he said."
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I don't think drugs are that much more or less of a problem than they are in other regional cities or lower socioeconomic areas in metropolitan cities.

 

Poor old Ballarat Courier. They need a bit of sensation to get them going.
You are right about the statistic and headline.
But I do have I have many friends who are doctors in Ballarat, as I used to live in a facility there with doctors who were doing their rounds. A higher than average drug and alcohol problem. I would suspect Horsham is worse.

 

Having worked at Ballarat Health Services for almost 20 years and now working remotely for hospitals across Australia for the last three years, I still doubt very much that the difference between regional cities or the lower socioeconomic suburbs in metropolitan is that huge though.

 

Nice one. 20 years is a long time.
I know they target some higher-up dealers when I was living there in the school break, looking at properties. Seems things have gotten a lot better. There was one particularly bad public holiday when a bunch of people got done for affected driving. Not big numbers either but the fact people didn't seem to care too much about it being a public holiday was a worry. But that's not to say if you did the same thing in Bendigo it would not yield the same result.

 

Hi all

Which masterplanned community will you recommend for land and house package?

 

So I am in Ballarat at the moment. Bridge street is a bit dire at the moment. Almost every shop is 50% off, a few closing down, a few empty. If Myer goes it is going to leave a massive hole in the town. It's a big space. Eventually, with 40k more people over the next 20 years as predicted, this will be overcome, but the CBD needs a real rethink. Bridge mall needs a roof and redevelopment. But there is talk of opening it to traffic.

 

Retail is in trouble at the moment,
Some say its going to get worse

 

Hi Ko Ko, cheers for starting the other Ballarat thread. All of your tips and replies to other people there have been awesome.

I currently rent in Ballarat (moved down from Syd earlier this year) and now looking to buy a PPOR for my young family. You mentioned parts of old Alfredton were great. Were there certain pockets and streets to avoid? We have had our eye on few propertiesnin old Alfredton over the last few months.

 

There is a lot of misinformation being placed from people who have never invested in new land. For example I did buy in Ballarat's Winter Valley a block of land for 180k last Jan 2021....this is now worth over 320k. It will titled next month and I plan to sell this on...as I plan to move to more upmarket builds.

I am kicking myself for not buying in New Alfredton and Lucas...if you would have bought a block say 512sqm...it would have cost about 180k in Jan 2020...that block would be worth North of $360k just for the block.

I know someone who bought a 640sqm block in New Alfredton and built a house in 2019 land was 165k and 255k for a 25sqm house so a total of $420k turnkey. That house now rents for $480pw...and is worth $680k.

No offence but some of posters on this site have no clue what they are talking about or they have vested interests. The land prices have grown in Ballarat at a similar rate as Geelong these days.