Feedback closes for city’s Council Plan

PUBLIC feedback has now closed for the City of Greater Geelong’s Council Plan.

The document, which includes the city’s Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, will guide the city’s decision making from 2025 to 2029.

Aligned with the community’s 30-year vision, Greater Geelong: A Clever and Creative Future, the Council Plan will assist the city to make decisions informed by the community’s views and maximise the way the city meets community need.

Feedback on the plan included community members meeting for a total of 15 hours across four sessions in August as part of a deliberative engagement panel.

Panel members were provided with a wide range of information, including presentations by city officers, municipal data, community sentiment and responses to panel questions to build informed participation.

A private page was also set up on the city’s Have Your Say website for panel members to share questions, comments, and to interact with each other between sessions.

Through the deliberative process, the panel provided rich insights to support the city’s integrated strategic planning, including identifying:

• Key values, challenges and opportunities for the city
• Overarching topics based on where the panel would like the council to focus its efforts for the next four years, as well as guiding principles
• The key priorities and associated outcomes under the overarching topics, and
• Health and wellbeing priorities and outcomes.

The panel will present their recommendations to the incoming council in February 2025.

One Geelong community panel member said: “This opportunity is invaluable, I hope this engagement will continue in future, and look forward to seeing better outcomes.”

The majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they enjoyed the process, and they would recommend participation to friends or family.

Some panellists also shared they would like to see a greater cross-section of the community involved including more young people.

The Council Plan outlines how the city and the council will work towards the Greater Geelong community’s long-term vision of a clever and creative future.

It guides decisions on how and where the city invests in facilities and infrastructure, and what services and programs are needed to support the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the region.

It also includes the City’s Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, focused on improving the health and wellbeing of the local community.

The city’s Council Plan 2025-29 is due to be finalised within 12 months of the October local council elections.

To read the existing Council Plan, head to geelongaustralia.com.au/ourcommunityplan