The Victorian government promised ‘more and better homes’ for Ballarat. Four years later, residents are still waiting

A fence outside a planned ‘affordable homes’ development at Delacombe, Ballarat. Photograph: Dellaram Vreeland/The Guardian

About 15 years ago, Kerene Pope participated in a state government renewal project in her neighbourhood of Delacombe, a suburb in Ballarat’s west.

“We were trained up to survey the whole neighbourhood, helped the people around here who otherwise didn’t have any jobs or major qualifications and gave people a chance to get out, get to know each other and the neighbourhood,” she says.