More than 360 people attended Australia’s first ever community and leisure facilities conference in Melbourne in August. It attracted representatives from Local Governments throughout Australia. The Better Facilities – Stronger Communities conference was co hosted by the City of Whittlesea and the Department for Victorian Communities.
According to the City of Whittlesea’s Director Community Services, Ruth Spielman, Council decided to co host the conference after identifying the desire for one among many Local Governments.
“We at the City of Whittlesea were trying to tackle the complex issues of providing good facilities and building connected communities and through our work in the field, it soon became obvious that other Local Governments were also looking for more information on the topic,” Ruth Spielman said.
The keynote address at the conference, delivered by Allan Tranter, Director and founder of Perth based company, Creating Communities, was extremely well received and set the theme for the two day event. He discussed how to create facilities that excite community members, get them out of their lounge rooms and once again connecting and participating in community life.
“We need to know what to do to bring people to our facilities, open spaces and town centres,” he said. “We need to provide the right programs and events, for a wide range of community members, to get people using the facilities and connecting with one another. We need to restore the lost art of community, using our facilities as a tool.”
Four site visits to 13 community facilities, located across Melbourne, were also among the highlights of the conference. These visits included Birrarung Marr in Central Melbourne, the Global Learning Centre in Broadmeadows and a tour of the refurbished Thomastown Library and Community Centre.
Those who attended the Thomastown Library tour had the opportunity to speak with the architect and the artist who oversaw the community art projects which are an outstanding feature of the new look facility.
