Council aims to involve the whole community in developing a Mount Alexander Community Plan. With $20,000 in funding from the Department of Victorian Communities, the Plan will shape the future strategic directions of the Mount Alexander community. It will incorporate short, medium and long term goals, and outline approaches that community members and organisations will jointly take to meet these goals.
Mayor, Councillor David Gittus, said the Plan is a major project that will involve three key groups – a Reference Group, comprising community leaders, Councillors and Council Officers who will oversee the community planning process; a consultancy company who will develop a framework for the process; and importantly, the community.
“The community is aware of local issues and currently takes an interest in those issues on a range of levels,” Mayor Gittus said. “The best way to determine your destiny is to create it. This is a great opportunity to capture the dreams and visions of the whole community and allow people to have a say about their future.”
“Involving the community and incorporating their ideas into the Community Plan will inspire ownership of the work undertaken by Council and other organisations within our community.”
The Plan will also investigate funding opportunities and priorities.
“A challenge is looking at how we can develop partnerships,” Mayor Gittus said. “We need to attract businesses with a common vision and develop a common strategy to achieve that vision.”
With the tender to be released shortly, the successful consultancy company is expected to be formally appointed later in the year. Council is actively making contact with different demographic groups and encouraging the establishment of workshops to get a representation from all community sectors.
Community Planning Manager, Deb Simpson, said Council is exploring the idea of using potential scenarios as a means of generating considered discussion at community meetings.
“By using a scenario based approach, such as how would you feel if…, we hope to give people a better understanding of the factors that may impact upon this community and therefore stimulate more in depth discussion.”
