Ideas asked for community plan

AN updated community plan for one of the region’s towns is closer to completion following a public meeting held last week.

Members of the Shelford Progress Association held their fifth meeting focusing on the plan’s development, with individuals and organisation representatives invited to help shape the document.

With work on the plan having started about six months ago, SPA secretary and treasurer Glenn Jeffery said the event was key for the community.

“It was important to have that discussion on where we’re up to in the planning process and to get project updates as people gather information on what their projects will look like,” he said.

“It was an update on what those projects will be that will likely go in the document, what barriers there are and the costs they’re looking for.

“We had people from the recreation reserve, the hall committee and the cricket club and the Duck Race which is our biggest event.

“Cost was definitely a barrier that was brought. Some of these things have a high price tag so it was about how do we get to that?”

SPA’s previous Shelford Community Plan saw a redeveloped and centralised postal hub for the town courtesy of Australia Post, as well as the establishment of a community garden and basketball court.

The finalised document is set to be presented to Golden Plains Shire council at a meeting in the second half of 2023.

Mr Jeffery said public input is “vital” to shaping their community plan.

“They’ve got their opportunity to throw ideas in and once an idea’s there, people can pick it up and what they can to progress it,” he said.

“I’d like to think at the end of this, we’ll have a document that’s representative of what the community has said.

“Works on our public hall, playgrounds, roads and what we call the common which is a stretch of Crown land along the river, and the cricket club, are probably our priority projects for the plan.”

The next open meeting is set for Wednesday, 10 May from 7pm at the Shelford Recreation Reserve with Golden Plains Shire facilitator Jenny Holliday representing the municipality.