The City of Melbourne will bring Council decision-making into the heart of the community through a series of meetings to be held beyond Town Hall later this year.
City of Melbourne Councillors last night unanimously endorsed the proposal to hold Future Melbourne Committee meetings in local neighbourhoods throughout September, October and November, and to delay the start time to 6pm for greater attendance.
These will be the first Future Melbourne Committee meetings to be held outside of the Melbourne Town Hall.
Bringing Council decision-making into the community will make it easier for ratepayers, residents and businesses to interact with the City of Melbourne.
Councillors and City of Melbourne staff will also benefit by discussing local issues and major initiatives outlined in the four-year Council Plan and the record capital works budget.
Locations will be announced at least three weeks in advance of the Future Melbourne Committee meeting, and will be held on the third Tuesday of each month.
A live stream and remote participation will still be available. No decisions have been made beyond 2021.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Sally Capp:
"Community is at the heart of everything we do at the City of Melbourne so we should make our meetings as accessible as possible for everyone living in the municipality," the Lord Mayor said.
"The City of Melbourne is lucky to have such diverse neighbourhoods with incredible histories, and they all have unique needs and aspirations that locals want addressed.
"Bringing Council decision-making into the heart of our community will help make it easier for anyone to engage with Councillors and senior staff. I'm encouraging everyone who is interested to come along to their closest community meeting."
Quotes attributable to Finance, Governance and Risk Lead Cr Philip Le Liu:
"We outlined our neighbourhood plans in this year's budget, and these community meetings over the next few months are a great way to extend our local focus even further," Cr Le Liu said.
"By focusing in on neighbourhoods, we hope to learn even more about the people and businesses that live within them, and share detail on core service delivery.
"This will be a great way for us to get the basics right and keep delivering for each of our neighbourhoods."
