Council has taken a major step towards creating a fairer and more equitable approach for investing in community places and spaces.
Council has approved the release of the draft Social Infrastructure Planning and Investment Policy.
The aim of the new policy is to ensure that when it comes to investing in community infrastructure and services our decision-making is clear, fair, equitable and based on evidence and insights from our community.
A key aspect of the draft policy is encouraging the City and the community to look at new partnership opportunities and different ways of delivering social infrastructure.
Working in partnership with our community will help achieve key priorities listed in the Council Plan 2018-2022, such as:
- providing more quality spaces that support active lifestyles;
- supporting the growth of localised and regional sporting facilities;
- delivering accessible and attractive community infrastructure, based on community need;
- advocating and planning for a range of social and affordable housing options; and
- maintaining our public open space.
Once the policy is finalised and endorsed, a social infrastructure plan will then be presented to Council.
In response to the new policy, the plan will identify future investment priorities and help people understand what is planned in their local area. The plan will evolve and be continually updated to reflect changing needs and new information.
The final plan will consider a range of social infrastructure investments, including community facilities, kindergartens, leisure centres, parks and sporting reserves.
The development of a draft policy follows a Council resolution in April 2018 to review the Draft Social Infrastructure Plan 2014-2031.
As part of that process, the City undertook extensive community and stakeholder engagement in the latter half of 2018. A key finding from the consultation was that the community looks to Council to make decisions about investing in community infrastructure that ensure accessibility, equity and sustainability.
