The City’s services, facilities and infrastructure – such as child care centres, schools, aged care, shops, public transport and employment – all influence who moves into Moonee Valley and who moves out. Maintaining the amenity of the City for the increasing and diverse needs of the community is the major challenge facing Council.
Recreation, sports, arts and culture
Council endorsed its first ever Moonee Valley Recreation Plan this year. The plan involved extensive community consultation. Identified by Councillors as a priority project, this key document will drive Council’s recreation services for the next five years. The plan identifies Council’s role to encourage the development of a broad range of recreation opportunities and maximise opportunities by reducing barriers.
In another first, this year Council adopted its Tennis Strategy. The five year plan recognises the importance of improving existing infrastructure to raising participation rates and aims to allocate funding for tennis infrastructure projects. The strategy also aims to promote club membership and facilitate club personnel training,
Work on the redevelopment of the Ascot Vale Leisure Centre was completed in September this year. With 950,000 visits per year, this facility is one of the most attended centres in Victoria. This $13.8 million project was partly funded by a $1.3 million grant from Sport and Recreation Victoria and a $500,000 contribution from the Centre’s management group YMCA.
The Moonee Valley Athletics Track $1.2 million redevelopment project was completed in June 2007. The new facility features an all weather, eight lane track (plus an additional ninth lane in the main straight) with international markings. The Athletics Track attracts around 130,000 visits over the course of the year.
In November 2006, Council officially opened the upgraded and rejuvenated Riverside Golf and Tennis Centre. The redevelopment, jointly funded by Moonee Valley City Council and Leisure Management Services, includes a refurbishment of the Customer Service and Reception Centre, a new commercial kitchen and an extended building envelope, with refurbished decking.
Along with sports and recreation, arts and culture are strong, local, drawcards – conversion of The Incinerator Arts Complex and The Clocktower into regional facilities, brings locals and visitors from surrounding suburbs to live theatre and exhibitions. Council not only provides outstanding services day in and day out, it also aims to bring together the community through innovative and exciting events such as Youth Week, Seniors Health and Wellbeing Expo, Children’s Day and the Moonee Valley Festival.
The biggest community event in the calendar is the Moonee Valley Festival, which celebrated its 30th year in 2007. Usually held in the last weekend of February, the festival offers a broad range of quality entertainment, stalls and activities. It is free and open to the public and has traditionally been held at Queens Park in Moonee Ponds. In 2007, the festival drew a record crowd of more than 60,000 people, and promises to attract even bigger numbers in the years to come.
Citizenry and democracy
Council believes that participation and engagement in local activities and governance improves people’s quality of life. Its goal is to give all Moonee Valley citizens the opportunity to be active participants in their community, ensuring a dynamic network of neighbours, friends, family and groups. Council’s most direct way of doing this is through the annual Community Grants Program. These grants provide local, non profit organisations, which meet eligibility criteria, with funding for projects and services targeted to assist recognised high needs groups in the Moonee Valley community. Driving lessons for Oromo women, a new youth magazine, body image education for girls and water conservation awareness for public housing tenants from culturally diverse backgrounds, are just some of the projects that will receive a boost from Moonee Valley City Council’s 2008 Community Grants Program.
This year, Council undertook a comprehensive review of its grants program that included consultation with the community.
As part of its commitment to supporting community groups, this year Moonee Valley introduced the new Grant Assessment Panels which include members of the community to help assess and prepare recommendations.
Flemington Community Capacity Building Project
In November, Moonee Valley City and the State Government launched a project to work with residents and community agencies in the Flemington area to improve the social, educational and economic outcomes for communities living in the public housing estates. The Flemington Community Capacity Building Project is an opportunity for government and the community to work together to identify and develop projects that will deliver the best results for residents.
Moonee Valley City Council, the Victorian Department of Human Services and the Department of Planning and Community Development have provided seed funding, which will support the recruitment of a project coordinator for an initial 12 months to further establish and implement this initiative. The project will consider the following issues:
- ongoing community participation in decision making
- new learning opportunities
- increased neighbourhood volunteering and other support
- improved community facilities and open spaces
- greater participation in cultural, recreational and sporting activities
- improved feelings of safety and wellbeing.
New gym to engage young people
Moonee Valley City Council, Victoria Police, Essendon Football Club and the YMCA have joined together to provide a gym at the North Melbourne Community Centre. A joint initiative amongst the partners, the gym seeks to provide an accessible outlet to young people in the Flemington and North Melbourne area for recreation and to promote a healthy lifestyle, building self esteem and enhancing community engagement. The facility will be staffed by Victoria Police and YMCA and will be opening in December 2007. It will also offer additional programs on leadership, education and employment , whuich will be developed and delivered by partners.
This project represents a collaborative effort by partners, with Essendon Football Club donating the gym equipment, Council refurbishing the room into a gym and purchasing additional gym equipment with funds raised through its Moonee Valley Mayoral Charity Race Day, Victoria Police for staffing and YMCA for program development.
Community survey
In October and November 2006, Council undertook its first comprehensive independent community survey to complement the State Government’s Community Satisfaction Survey, conducted in February every year. The Council survey was undertaken by Metropolis Research and involved 800 questionnaires being completed in face to face interviews.
Planning and Citizens Forum
Council introduced the Public Forum as a new initiative in February 2007. The Public Forum has been incorporated into the monthly Council Planning and Citizens’ Meetings, and is designed to enable direct interaction between Councillors, officers and residents on issues of interest.
Spirit of Moonee Valley Awards
Now in its eighth year, the Spirit of Moonee Valley Community Awards recognise the contributions of volunteers within the community including individuals, groups and businesses. These awards celebrate their dedication to improving the quality and sustainability of the Moonee Valley lifestyle. The categories are Contribution to Youth, Contribution by Youth (Under 25), Contribution to Neighbourhood, Contribution to Older Persons, Contribution to Sport, and Contribution to Arts and Culture.
This year, Council introduced the new category of Contribution to the Environment, in recognition of sustainability as a growing Council priority.
