Ararat Rural City Sport and Active Recreation Strategy Consultation

Ararat Rural City Council recognises the important contribution that sport and active recreation makes to health, wellbeing, community connections and liveability. Whilst Council provides numerous sport and active recreation facilities, programs and services such as swimming pools, sports grounds, skate parks and walking tracks, it also recognises that there are many groups in the community that have an important role in delivering or supporting physical activity opportunities, including sport and recreation clubs, schools, gyms, health organisations, neighbourhood houses and state government bodies.

In 2025, Council began developing a new Sport and Active Recreation Strategy to provide a road map to enable Council to best utilise its resources to strengthen and contribute significantly to the health, economic and social wellbeing of the residents of Ararat Rural City.

Council wishes to thank the members of our community, clubs and organisations for their participation and feedback during the consultation and development phase of this Strategy in 2025. Comprehensive feedback was received on what types of facility upgrades or new facilities the community wanted to see, and what sort of programs or services would encourage residents to be more physically active both now and in the future. Your valuable input has informed our new strategy and actions.

The Draft Ararat Rural City Sport and Active Recreation Strategy and Action Plan is presented for review by community, before this is presented to Council for final consideration.

This Ararat Rural City Sport and Active Recreation Strategy project is supported by the Victorian Government.

This Draft Strategy presents Council's Vision for sport and active recreation in the municipality, which is:

"Ararat Rural City: an active, inclusive and connected community"

The Draft Strategy and Action Plan focus on four pillars to achieve this vision, these are:

1. Places - To provide a diversity of accessible, inclusive and fit-for purpose sport and active recreation places and spaces for the community.
2. People - To encourage and support increased participation in sport and active recreation by the community.
3. Partners - To work in partnership with clubs, community organisations, state / regional sporting associations, education sector, government agencies and the private sector to facilitate sport and active recreation opportunities for the community.
4. Processes - To develop strategic plans, policies and tools to guide Council’s decision making and investment in sport and active recreation.

The Document Library (to your right) contains the two documents:

• Draft Ararat Rural City Sport and Active Recreation Strategy 2026-2036
• Draft Ararat Rural City Sport and Active Recreation Strategy: Action Plan 2026-2036

We are seeking your feedback on these documents. Please make your comments in the form below by Friday 24 April 2026