Committee for Lorne: THE NEXT STAGE OF COMMUNITY and agency cooperation in Lorne

On Friday June 7, two significant events took place in Lorne which demonstrated a new level of cooperation and collaboration between the Surf Coast Shire, Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) and the community of Lorne.

The first of these events was a workshop which brought together over 20 members of the community, together with Shire and GORCC representatives. The workshop was facilitated by a Surf Coast Shire representative and the purpose of the
workshop was to scope future work which would address one of the key aspirations contained in Committee for Lorne’s
document which outlines our Vision for Lorne. That aspiration is related to accommodating Lorne’s future. It states;
“With our goal of a permanent population of 1500 more evenly spread across all age groups, we will take steps to address the lack of affordable housing that is a significant barrier to achieving the longterm viability and ongoing sustainability of Lorne.

By way of background, in 2009 a report and action plan were produced called “Reversing the Trend – a strategic response to the lack of affordable housing in Lorne”. It addressed housing for seasonal workers and permanent residents. This has informed 10 years of stop-start action by community and council. It was time to reflect – what’s changed and where are we now? The Committee for Lorne, Council and the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee have, in recent years, been trying to work more collaboratively on the big issues in town.

Surf Coast Shire Council’s Structure Plan (10-year land use plan) for Lorne is due for review and Council is ready to start the process but, after discussion with the Committee for Lorne, has paused to take stock on this issue of accommodation first.

The Committee for Lorne has been busy working with Melbourne University (and other research organisations) to explore short and long-term housing options within and around the town.

What have we learned? The Committee for Lorne’s vision sets a goal of 1500 people permanently living in the town. In 2006, the permanent population was 967, in 2011 it was 1164, in 2016, it was 1128. Lorne’s population has aged in that period – over 50’s now represent 38% of the town’s population, up from 29% in 2001.

A statistic that resonated with all representatives attending the workshop was that whilst the median age of Australians at the 2016 Census was 38 and the median age of Victorians was 37, the median age of the population of Lorne was 53. Interestingly, if the percentages of population by age group in Lorne approximated those on a national basis, the population projection is around 1500.

So, the workshop addressed the following issues:
• What problems are we trying to solve?
• What outcomes would we like to see?
• What’s been done? What do we know?

What don’t we know?
• What steps should we take?
• Who needs to be involved? What skills, resources and knowledge can they bring?

There was a broad cross section of community representatives including people with young families directly impacted by accommodation and affordability issues in Lorne. This workshop was just the first step in what will be a lengthy process, but it was encouraging to take on board fresh thinking about what will be necessary to attract young families to live and work in Lorne. What new facilities are required?

What might be the jobs and work of the future which can be done in Lorne?

What would be the impact on the school and curriculum as part of attracting new families to Lorne? The next step is to start to formalise the ideas and actions arising from this workshop and involve more members of the community in developing an action plan.

Later that same day, we were honoured to have as guests at our Committee for Lorne luncheon, Surf Coast Shire Mayor, Councillor Rose Hodge, CEO of the Shire, Keith Baillie and General Manager, Culture and Community, Chris Pike. The
luncheon was well subscribed with over 80 community members in attendance.

Each of the Shire representatives spoke openly about working with community and facilitating community outcomes. Rose
Hodge, who has been a long-standing supporter of projects in Lorne, once again reiterated a commitment to work with Committee for Lorne. Keith Baillie addressed a number of issues impacting Lorne, including progress of developments
at Point Grey. Chris Pike spoke of the workshop which had taken place earlier that day, and the plan to work with the Lorne community, through Committee for Lorne, to help achieve our aspirations for Lorne and in particular, accommodating Lorne’s future.

Chris had developed the theme for the Shire’s presentations to the luncheon, describing “a new era in community and agency cooperation”. Both the workshop and the presentations at the luncheon were encouraging signs that we have indeed begun a new era in terms of turning our Aspirations for Lorne into real action plans.