Keeping you informed

AS AN ORGANISATION It is so important that the City of Greater Geelong does everything it can to keep the community informed.

That can be on a whole range of issues, such as decisions taken by Council at our monthly meetings, updates on infrastructure projects, grant allocation, and so many more.

There are a wide number of ways for the community to keep up-to-date with what is happening at Council, and recently another – the Capital Works projects dashboard – was added to this extensive list.

The dashboard allows community members to explore the dozens of infrastructure projects fully or co-funded by Council that are underway in our region.

There are 67 capital works projects featured in the interactive online map that are at various stages of development, including inception, planning, delivery, design, construction and completion/handover.

Twenty of these projects are in the construction stage, including the Leopold Tennis Pavilion, which has been a development I have enjoyed seeing progress in recent times.

This new addition complements the Geelong Data Exchange’s Major Projects dashboard, which features information about capital works projects valued over $10 million not only across Greater Geelong but also the Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast Shire, Golden Plains Shire and Colac Otway Shire.That dashboard shows 161 projects worth $13.4 billion being planned, approved, underway or recently completed in the Barwon region.

But the reason the City’s Capital Works projects dashboard will be such a valuable tool is that it provides another avenue for the community to be able to see where and how its money is being spent.

Council does its best to ensure there is regular communication on the progress of infrastructure projects right across the municipality, but the dashboard puts the community back in control and helps it hold Councillors accountable.

Essentially, this is an additional element of transparency, which is vital for local governments to achieve trust with its residents.

A quick look at the dashboard will show some of the many projects that have been completed in the Bellarine Ward, including the St Leonards Foreshore Pavilion, the Barwon Heads Bowling Club Pavilion, the Boronggook Drysdale Library, and Stage 1 of the Northern Bellarine Aquatic Centre.

Further to this, some projects in the Bellarine ward that might be of interest which are making positive progress include the Ocean Grove Principal Pedestrian Network, the Clifton Springs Boat Harbour car park extension, Beacon Point Reserve Shared Trail, and the St Leonards Cricket Club practice nets.

All of these are at different stages of completion, but it is so pleasing to see the large number of works happening just in our ward, let alone across Greater Geelong.

Each one of the projects will have a positive impact on our community and for that I am very grateful, and also thankful to our dedicated team of officers who work tirelessly to ensure these works are completed on budget and in a timely manner.

I encourage you all to jump on to the City’s Capital Works projects dashboard (cogg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards) and see for yourself how our infrastructure projects are tracking.

Cr Elise Wilkinson

Bellarine Ward, City of Greater Geelong