Increasing community connection and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are among the priorities of Hobsons Bay City Council's draft Council Plan 2021-25, which is now out for public comment.
The four-year plan is Council's strategic roadmap to guide the planning, development, allocation of resources and provision of services. It is open for feedback until 8 September at participate.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/Council-Plan-2021-2025
For the first time, the plan incorporates the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan alongside five key objectives of: Community; Environment; Place, Recreation and Economy; Community Infrastructure; and Organisation.
Hobsons Bay's population is expected to reach 107,031 by 2025, up from 98,189 in 2020, and the priorities in the draft Council Plan 2021-25 reflect the diversity of our community, hailing from 130 countries of origin, speaking more than 100 languages and observing 80 faith traditions.
The objectives laid out in the plan pave the way to achieving the Hobsons Bay 2030 Community Vision and have been developed after an exhaustive community consultation program.
Between January and July, Council's Hitting the Streets team interacted with over 400 residents in 14 locations, 40,000 reply-paid postcards were distributed, and idea generation sessions were held in workshops, at market stalls, online and through a school engagement program.
The result was 4,887 community ideas about what Council should include in the Council Plan including:
- advocacy to responsible agencies on community issues
- improve parks and gardens
- create better public spaces
- maintain and improve city amenities
- improve pedestrian accessibility and safety
- a wetlands centre at HD Graham Reserve
- a large-scale solar program
- Altona Meadows Library refurbishment
- COVID-19 recovery support
- Queen Street bridge advocacy and
- the implementation of Open Space and Urban Forest strategies
Priorities to achieve the objectives are outlined in the plan, which will be presented for adoption at the 12 October Council meeting
Quotes attributable to Mayor Jonathon Marsden:
"The draft Council Plan has been developed directly from information Hobsons Bay residents gave us about what was important to them. It's a blueprint for us to work from between now and 2025 to deliver community facilities, services, and a robust local economy that makes Hobsons Bay the inclusive, sustainable, and viable community we strive for. We all have a role to play in shaping the future of Hobsons Bay."
