New Mayor of Moreland Councillor Annalivia Carli Hannan has highlighted economic and community recovery from the pandemic as a priority for Moreland Council in the first year of its 4-year term.
Born and raised in Moreland, Cr Carli Hannan pledged to serve Moreland residents with passion, pride and integrity.
"I am proud to stand here as Mayor of this wonderfully progressive, vibrant, diverse and connected city. It is a great honour and a great duty," Cr Carli Hannan said.
"As Mayor of Moreland I will be committed to supporting businesses and creating jobs.
"I want to ensure that this pandemic doesn't have a long-lasting impact on our mental health, or our physical health."
Cr Carli Hannan also recognised the importance of remaining focused on providing Council's 100 plus individual core services and investing in the future of the Moreland community.
"It's also really important that we maintain and protect our core services, such as waste collection, home help, children's services, arts and culture and our sport and recreation," she said.
"I'm a Councillor and a Mayor that will be committed to ensuring that we continue to invest in our community infrastructure and ensuring that Moreland is a place that is affordable for everyone to live in."
Cr Carli Hannan said that Moreland's population has grown by almost a third in 15 years and this was changing the way that we live. She emphasised the important role Council needs to play in planning and open space.
"It is important to have sensible development with good environmental standards, a good standard of living for our residents and the open space that allows them to get the fresh air and exercise they need."
Cr Carli Hannan acknowledged that climate change was a risk to our health and wellbeing and to the economy and that Moreland has been and will continue to be a leader in this space, creating "a greener, cleaner, safer Moreland".
She also urged fellow Councillors to put the community at the forefront of all decisions in the coming year.
"We must make sure that when we choose our policies and when we vote on decisions in meetings, we are thinking about all of our Moreland residents and recognising the diversity of needs that they have."
Cr Carli Hannan concluded by saying, "There is no doubt that Moreland is a great place to live, work and play. But we know that there is always more work to be done and I know that us as a team at Council will be up for the challenge and that together we will be able to make Moreland an even better city to live in."
