Ballan () is a town in Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. At the , Ballan had a population of 3,392. It is the second largest administrative centre, behind Bacchus Marsh, in the

Shire of Moorabool The Shire of Moorabool is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 34,158. It includes the towns of Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Balliang, ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Ballan is a small country regional town but also not too far from Melbourne City which takes a one-hour drive. Ballan Town is located in between Melbourne - Ballarat Western Freeway and had a major train stop in between these two cities. Ballan's facilities include a hospital, primary schools, railway station, police station, post office, church, banks, ATM, public play grounds, golf club, hotel, pub, caravan park, fuel station, restaurants, supermarket and other shops. During the

Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

, it became an important staging point for coaches travelling to the Ballarat goldfields.

History

The Wadawurrung and

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

peoples of the Kulin Nations are the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the land that is today's Ballan. In April 1838, (18161876) took up a pastoral run situated on the

Werribee River The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the expansive lowland plain southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg River, are north of Ballan near ...

's right riverbank. He named it Ballan. His brother John Lewis von Stieglitz (18091868) occupied the adjoining run, Ballanee. The two von Stieglitz brothers were some of the first European settlers in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

. The township of Ballan was surveyed in 1850 and named after von Stieglitz's run.

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

was found in the area in 1851, which brought an influx of prospectors during the

. The Ballan Hotel dates from the gold rush period in 1851. The town became an important staging point for coaches travelling to the Ballarat goldfields. The post office in the township opened around September 1853, although two earlier offices in the area were named Ballan. Ballan Primary School was established on 8 January 1855.History of Ballan Primary School
. Accessed 20 June 2006. The first

Mechanics' Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...

in Ballan was built in 1861, with the current Mechanics' Institute built on land purchased in 1881, although the façade was demolished and rebuilt in 1922. The building houses the library for the town and a hall.Ballan Mechanic's Institute and Free Library
Accessed 20 June 2006 St Paul’s

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Church in Ballan was officially opened in July 1866.History of Ballan
. Accessed 20 June 2006 On 15 November 2003, a Sprinter train travelling to

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

was derailed between Ballan and

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...

, injuring 61 people when it hit a stationary vehicle on a country railway crossing.Disasters Database
— Ballan / Gordon Vic: Train derailment

Climate

Ballan has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( Köppen: Cfb), with very mild, relatively dry summers and cool, slightly wetter winters. Influenced by its

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

(); average maxima vary from in January to in July, while average minima fluctuate between in February and in July. Mean average annual

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

is moderately low, , and is spread between 138.5 precipitation days. Despite this, the town is not very sunny, with 165.2 cloudy days and only 58.0 clear days per annum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 31 January 1968 to on 16 August 1967.

Health service

* Ballan District Health & Care: Located at 33 Cowie Street, Ballan Hospital is a community-owned, registered charity, with 170+ staff members and 70+ volunteers, providing healthcare and wellbeing services for Ballan and surrounding districts. There is an ongoing demand for allowing a Maternity Ward in Ballan Hospital for years. * Private Medical Centre's also functioning in town with GP Consultation

Education

There are two primary schools in Ballan: Ballan Primary School and St Brigid's Catholic Primary School. There is a child care centre also functioning in town. For high school, students go to Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat or Daylesford. There are bus services for students to these towns. There is an ongoing demand for allowing a high school in Ballan for years.

Transport

The Western Freeway bypasses the town, but is located nearby and connects Ballan to Melbourne in the east and Ballarat to the west. The main road into town, the Old Melbourne Road (Old Inglis Street), is also the main street. Other main roads are the Geelong - Ballan Road and Daylesford - Ballan Road. BallanTrainStation

Ballan railway station Ballan railway station is a regional railway station on the Ararat line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the town of Ballan, in Victoria, Australia. Ballan station is a ground level premium station, featuring two side platfo ...

is serviced by regular fast regional

Ballarat V/Line rail service The Ballarat line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 13 stations towards its terminus in Ballarat's western suburb of Wendouree via Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Services are operated p ...

VLocity approximately hourly with a 1 hour journey to the state's regional railway hub Southern Cross station in Melbourne - or 20 minute journey to Ballarat. Being on the Serviceton line trains stopping at the station give Ballan access via Ballarat to regional services including the

Ararat V/Line rail service The Ballarat line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 13 stations towards its terminus in Ballarat's western suburb of Wendouree via Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Services are operated p ...

, the Mildura line as far as Maryborough and connecting bus services. The town centre is only a three-block walk from the station. Trains to Ballarat and Melbourne are running at a frequency of 20 minutes in busy times and 40 minutes in normal day time starting from 4 in morning to 11 at night. VLine coaches also regularly stop in Ballan en route from Ballarat to Melbourne, and Ballarat Airport shuttle buses run from the Ballan Police Station Bus Stop to

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...

. Ballan Bus Lines also runs on all weekdays bus services to Daylesford (Hepburn Springs) and Gordon (Mount Egerton). Nearest major airports are Melbourne Airport and Avalon Airport. There is also a local

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

service based in Ballan.

Sport

The town has an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

team competing in the

Central Highlands Football League The Central Highlands Football Netball League is an Australian Rules Football & Netball League in the Ballarat, Victoria, Ballarat region. The league coordinates Senior, Reserve, Under 18, Under 15 and Under 12 grades. History ;Central Highla ...

. Ballan Brumbies Basketball Club was founded in 2017, playing in the Ballarat Basketball Association competitions. As of July 2023, the club fielded four men's & ladies' senior teams, as well as 20 junior teams. The club's colours are white, royal blue & gold. The Ballan Cricket Club currently has 2 Senior and 3 Junior teams competing in the

Ballarat Cricket Association {{Inline, date=June 2022 The Ballarat Cricket Association is a cricket sports league, league which operates in Ballarat, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The league has different divisions for under-13s, two grades of under-15s, 1 grad ...

. The seniors in BCA 2nd grade & One day C grade whilst the Juniors are U12 in the MJCA, U13 & U16 with the BCA. The club has been back with the BCA since the 2005/06 season after 14 years in the Daylesford & District Cricket Association. The Ballan Bowling Club currently fields three pennant teams in the Ballarat District Bowls Division. Golfers play at the Ballan Golf Club on Blow Court. Ballan Football Club is currently involved in the Central Highlands football netball league. They offer a chance for both junior footballers and netballers to play, as well as 2 senior football and 3 senior netball teams.

Festivals and attractions

* A Vintage Machinery and Vehicle Rally is held in February, well known for its vintage

tractor pull Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farth ...

. * An Autumn Festival is held in Ballan every year in late March. * BuzzConf, a technology and futurist festival, is held in Ballan every November. * Although there is a mineral spring at Ballan, it does not have the high profile of the towns of

Hepburn Springs Hepburn Springs is a resort town located in the middle of the largest concentration of mineral springs in Australia, situated in Victoria, 48 km northeast of Ballarat. In the , Hepburn had a population of 631, and Hepburn Springs had a po ...

and Daylesford further to the north. * To the south of Ballan are the

Brisbane Ranges National Park The Brisbane Ranges National Park is a national park in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, The national park is situated approximately west of Melbourne near the town of and is managed by Parks Victoria. The park covers part ...

and the You Yangs Forest Park.

Community groups

* In 1937, a

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...

(CWA) branch was established in Ballan. * In the former courthouse, which closed down in 1983, the Ballan Shire Historical Society holds meetings every month except December. * The Ballan Golf Club manages a "shady, tree-lined ndgenerally flat"

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

situated on the banks of the Werribee River.

References

Bibliography

External links

Ballan District Health & Care

Ballan Online

Ballan & District CWA
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state)