A team of experts have been drilling boreholes and excavating test pits at various locations across the 4.4 hectare site to verify ground conditions before more detailed designs on the Village for Victoria 2026 commence.

Victoria's Minister for Commonwealth Games Jacinta Allen claimed it was all part of the state’s commitment to hosting an event that will benefit the whole region.

The Games Village in Morwell, a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, is due to host around 1,000 athletes and officials.

It is set to be one of four Commonwealth Games Villages alongside Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong as the event is hosted across a region, rather than in a single city, for the first time in its 96-year history.

"We’re excited to showcase the Gippsland region to the world while boosting the economy, creating jobs and bringing visitors to the region," Allen said.

Boreholes will have allowed engineers to collect physical samples of soil and rock beneath the surface to help better understand the ground conditions on site for when construction on the Morwell Games Village officially gets underway later this year.

The boreholes varied in depth between 1.5 metres and eight metres, using a drilling rig mounted on a four-wheel drive and a tracked drill rig, with the holes backfilled after samples were collected.

A proportion of housing at each Village site will be set aside for social and affordable housing, and the Victoria Government is already working with local councils and social and affordable housing providers to ensure that the use of the sites after the Games best reflects the needs of the local community, it is claimed.

Five sports are scheduled to staged in the Gippsland region, including shooting and Para shooting, women's T20 cricket, badminton, rugby sevens and road cycling.

It is estimated Victoria 2026 will create more than 600 full-time equivalent jobs before they start, 3,900 jobs during the Games and a further 3,000 jobs after the Closing Ceremony, and is expected to contribute more than AUD$3 billion (£1.7 billion/$2 billion/€1.9 billion) to Victoria's economy.

Development Victoria is the State Government's delivery partner for the Games Villages, and oversaw the contractors undertaking the geotechnical investigations at Morwell.