Shire adopts Council Plan

THE Surf Coast Shire council has formally adopted its Council Plan, with incorporated Health and Wellbeing Plan, and Financial and Asset Plans after inviting public submissions on drafts of the documents.

The three-week submission period constituted the third and final phase of the People Place Future community engagement program.

The first phase attracted some 1,200 responses, while the second phase involved a community panel that met for 33 hours over seven sessions, before producing a recommendation report.

There were 46 survey responses and four submissions from individuals or groups in the final phase. The Financial Plan received 11 comments and the Asset Plan eight.

The council resolved to adopt the Council Plan at their September 28 meeting.

“One of the defining features throughout the development of the Council Plan and related documents has been the extent to which Council has sought to understand and incorporate community feedback,” shire mayor Libby Stapleton said.

“We are enormously grateful to the many people who have contributed to the People Place Future project. The high level of participation provides a richness to the feedback and gives us confidence we have a strong picture of community sentiment.

“The feedback we received during the final submission period shows there are high levels of support for the themes and strategies included in the Council Plan, as well as the content of the related strategic documents.

The Council Plan contains seven themes which represent the top strategic focus areas for the the council during its four-year term. They are:

• First Nations reconciliation
• A healthy connected community
• Environmental leadership
• Sustainable growth
• A robust and diverse economy
• Arts and creativity
• Accountable and viable council.

Supporting the themes are 19 strategies that summarise what the council will do to achieve the goal attached to each theme.

The Council Plan incorporates a Health and Wellbeing Plan which is required by Victorian Government legislation. Accompanying the Council Plan are the Financial Plan 2021-2031 and Asset Plan 2021-2031, which guide, respectively, financial sustainability and management of public assets, over a 10-year timeline.

The People Place Future community panel also created a community vision for the Surf Coast Shire, which is: “From the hinterland to the coast, from the first peoples to the children of the future, we are an active, diverse community that lives creatively to value, protect and enhance the natural environment and our unique neighbourhoods. We will leave the Surf Coast better than we found it.”

The panel also presented a report containing a set of 10 principles to guide how the council, the community and other stakeholders, should work to achieve the vision.

The council will consider a report at a future meeting which will provide a detailed action plan to guide how the themes and strategies in the Council Plan will be delivered.

To view the plans, head to the Surf Coast Shire website.