A warm welcome back to the borough

HELLO to all Borough of Queenscliffe residents, ratepayers and visitors – and a big welcome back to all our friends from metropolitan Melbourne!

Whether you’re returning to your holiday home, staying at one of our tourist parks or settling into a rental for the summer, we’re so happy to have you back.

The many restaurants, cafes and retailers in Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale are also ready to welcome you with open arms right throughout what should be a busy and bustling summer.

We’ve re-written the council coronavirus webpage to help you achieve the most important tasks as we navigate this new era of the pandemic.

Learn how to download your vaccination certificate to your phone, look up nearby exposure sites and more by visiting boq.news/covid19.

Council Plan adopted

Last week at council’s October Ordinary Meeting, the new 2021–2025 Council Plan was officially adopted. This plan has been many months in the making and it simply would not have been possible to complete without the fantastic input of our borough townspeople throughout the process.

Developed in partnership with a large and diverse cross-section of our community, the Plan will help council meet the goals set in the Community Vision and outlines the focus of our work for the coming council term.

Across five portfolio areas of health and wellbeing; environment; local economy; heritage, planning and infrastructure; and governance and finance, the plan both builds on the work of previous councils while adapting to and addressing the challenges we face in a changing world.

Our strategic objectives and strategies will also be achieved through an annual Action Plan, which will be published alongside the annual budget for each of the four years from 2021 to 2025. This may include specific initiatives for new or expanded services and/or capital works projects.

As required by the Local Government Act 2020, we will also be reviewing and updating the plan each year in line with the new financial year. While there will not be any structural changes to the plan, it will include an Implementation Plan for the next financial year that will link to the corresponding annual budget.

To read through the plan yourself, visit boq.news/2021-2025-plan.

Annual Report released

Another important statutory document adopted at last week’s meeting was the 2020–21 Borough of Queenscliffe Annual Report, a detailed and engaging account of council’s operations over the 2020–21 financial year as well as the achievements, disappointments, challenges and directions for the year ahead.

The 204-page document was again designed by Cheryl at Martlette Graphic Design and the motifs and photography used throughout certainly make it a very professional piece of work.

As you will notice when reading the report, we’ve continued our tradition of using the chapter introduction pages of our report to highlight achievements or programs from throughout the year.

This year’s report draws attention to some of the borough’s small businesses, including how they and council have worked together to navigate an extremely challenging year.

These feature pages highlight the importance and reach of council’s business support services, and demonstrate council’s commitment to promoting and supporting our business community.

To read this year’s report, visit boq.news/annual-report.

Borough nominated for climate awards

It was a welcome surprise to see this week that the Borough of Queenscliffe’s community-led Climate Emergency Response Plan has been named as a finalist in Cities Power Partnership’s 2021 Climate Awards!

Thanks to the cooperation of our dedicated, forward-thinking townships, we’ve been recognised for creating something pretty special.

The CERP is nominated two major categories – the Collaboration Award, and the Community Choice Award, up against projects from some fairly large metropolitan councils across the country.

Let’s see if we can harness the power of our own little community again though.

The Community Choice Award is voted entirely by the public, and we’d love to see our borough community recognised, so let’s get voting and let’s see if we can bring it home! Go to boq.news/cpp-vote to cast your vote.

The awards ceremony itself is being held online on Wednesday, November 17, and is being hosted by writer and comedian Craig Reucassel. To register for the free event, visit boq.news/cpp-event.

As always, if you have anything you’d like to discuss with me about the borough, drop me a line via the contact details on our website.

Kind regards,
Cr Ross Ebbels
Mayor, Borough of Queenscliffe