The Greater Geelong community has demonstrated resilience and progressed its vision to be recognised as a 'clever and creative' city-region, despite the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020.
The 'Vision Annual Report – Our Progress 2020' reflects the significant impact of the pandemic on the community, while highlighting how the Council, local organisations and the community quickly adapted to the evolving environment.
Projects that would support the region's long-term economic and social recovery were brought forward, innovative ideas became a reality and events were shifted online, aligning with the nine aspirations from the community-led 30-year vision 'Greater Geelong: A Clever and Creative Future'.
The blueprint aims to guide the region towards being internationally recognised by 2047 as a 'clever and creative city-region that is forward looking, enterprising and adaptive, and cares for its people and environment'. Since the launch of the vision in 2017, Geelong was recognised as Australia's only UNESCO City of Design.
Key achievements from 2020 include:
- Corio Quay was announced as the new home for the Spirit of Tasmania's Victorian port operations;
- Council adopted a plan to facilitate an increase of 12,000 new social housing properties over the next 20 years;
- The City used 8,745 tonnes of recycled asphalt materials to build and renew roads and footpaths, and recycled nearly 6,548 tonnes of concrete;
- The Victorian Government matched the Federal Government's $2 billion funding commitment for stage one of Geelong Fast Rail;
- Barwon Health North officially opened and completed 55,000 COVID-19 tests;
- The City committed to converting 25,000 streetlights to energy-efficient LEDs with smart technology;
- Western Heights College turned part of its campus into a kitchen garden to provide produce for families experiencing financial hardship;
- The City restored a degraded shellfish reef using 500 square metres of recycled shells from restaurants and the seafood industry;
- Geelong's Word for Word Festival partnered with the nation's leading Indigenous publisher to present its inaugural 2020 schools program; and
- The City's Geelong Small Business Festival gave business people across Australia a chance to safely connect, support and learn from each other online.
Greater Geelong Mayor Stephanie Asher said there are many positives to take out of this report after an unprecedented 2020.
Last year forced us to change how we do things and I'm so proud of how community members pulled together to step up to challenges from the pandemic in their own clever and creative way.
Council approved an estimated $16.9 million to help businesses, community groups and residents impacted by the pandemic, which will assist in our journey towards our community-led vision.
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said while there's still work to do to recover from the pandemic, there are many hard-fought achievements showcased in the report.
Dozens of programs and initiatives were successfully carried out last year in spite of COVID-19, which goes to show how innovative and strong our community really is.
The Council is continuing to work with organisations and the broader community to support the region's social and economic recovery.
The community can view the Vision Annual Report – Our Progress 2020 report at www.geelongaustralia.com.au/clevercreative
