Variety in the Valley
Moonee Valley is between four and 13 kilometres North West of Melbourne’s CBD, and covers 43 square kilometres.
It’s home to around 118,000 residents or 47,000 households.
We have an ageing population and despite our apparent affluence, Moonee Valley has some of the most disadvantaged areas in Victoria, with the second highest number of residents in public housing in metropolitan Melbourne.
In Moonee Valley we have the Moonee Valley Racecourse, Essendon Airport, the Maribyrnong River, Essendon football ground, Flemington Racecourse and the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.
Moonee Ponds, in the centre of Moonee Valley, is also the home of Dame Edna Everage!
I doubt that there would be another municipality that could boast all that!
Safer communities
I hold the Portfolio for Family, Aged, Disability and Youth and when I started on Council our system for allocating kindergarten places was in disarray.
There was no priority system, siblings weren’t able to attend the same kinder and people couldn’t get access to their local kinder.
I set out to fix this issue and after much discussion and community consultation, we came up with a much more fair and equitable system.
A priority placement system was implemented which ensured a person’s proximity to kinder was made a priority, as too were siblings and families who were disadvantaged.
Complaints drastically reduced and the system has been a huge success since it’s implementation a few years ago.
Another one of Council’s big achievements in the past year that I’m really proud of is our accreditation as a ‘safe community’ by the Pan Pacific Safe Communities Network.
We are the first Victorian council to receive accreditation for the entire municipality by the Australian Safe Communities Foundation.
This accreditation is reflective of all the fantastic, innovative work we have undertaken in recent years in the area of community safety and wellbeing.
Another project I’m immensely proud of is the Crown Street Stables community Café.
In the coming months we will launch a social enterprise at the café, where people with a disability will have the opportunity to undertake on-site training and paid employment.
This is a first for Moonee Valley.
The café will provide employment pathways for people with a disability by providing this valuable experience in a hospitality setting.
As portfolio holder for Family, Aged, Disability and Youth, this is a project that I’m really passionate about, and I can’t wait to see it come to fruition.
One of our big upcoming challenges is rate capping.
The Victorian Government is committed to rate capping Victorian councils from the start of the 2016/17 financial year.
This could potentially have a huge impact on the way we do business and the services we provide in the coming years.
Local impact
I was elected to Council in November 2008. I’m in my second term as a Moonee Valley Councillor, and also my second time serving as Mayor of Moonee Valley.
I nominated for the 2008 council elections because I felt that residents’ views weren’t being heard at Council. I wanted to be elected so I could have an impact on the decision-making process and ensure that the average person’s views were taken into account
My background is in accounts and I do the books for the family business.
I am also a non-executive director with Bully Zero Australia Foundation.
This not-for-profit organisation runs a 24-hour hotline which offers help to those suffering the effects of bullying.
Bully Zero also run talks in schools and workplaces about the devastating effects bullying can have. As a mother of two young daughters, I’m extremely passionate about this cause and organisation.
In my role as portfolio holder for youth, I am able to bring ideas to the table about combatting this issue locally.
I hope that my involvement with Council inspires others who may be interested, but are too scared to take the plunge, to have a go.
I don’t have a political background and my reasons for getting into Local Government were to ensure the average person’s views are heard.
I’m eager to see more community members getting involved with Council, whether this is nominating to become a Councillor themselves, joining a committee in an area they are passionate about, or even just having their say on a project or policy Council is working on.
The more involvement the community has with Council, the better we can ensure that we are representing their interests and supporting their needs.
