Baw Baw Shire Council has commenced development of its new Council Plan after a number of successful workshops took place with the community panel over the past five weeks.
The panel is made up of 44 local community members who have provided valuable input and ideas which will contribute to development of the Council Plan 2025 – 29, as well as a suite of other strategic documents including the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, and Finance Plan.
The panel members were randomly selected to represent the diversity within Baw Baw, providing a wide perspective of the needs and aspirations across the Shire.
The panel participated in four workshops throughout March and April.
The suite of information presented to the panel included a summary of the 'Shape Baw Baw for the next four' engagement program which interacted with over 400 community members at local markets, local businesses, through focus groups, and via an online survey.
Panel member Jacob, who has lived in Rawson for past 20 years, said he put his hand up to join the panel to learn more about council process and local Councillors' views and hopefully make a difference for the community.
"It's been a good experience," Jacob said. "I've learned a lot, and it gives the Councillors the opportunity to listen to what the community wants."
When asked what he loved most about Baw Baw Shire, Jacob was quick to mention his love of the bush. "There are lots of opportunities to get out into the bush here in Baw Baw Shire. Hunting, camping, fishing and four-wheel driving are some of my favourite things to do here."
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Councillor Danny Goss said Council was committed to working in partnership with our community to create shared priorities for this Council term.
"This deliberative engagement allowed our community to have their views heard and help shape the future of our Shire," said Cr Goss.
"We will use this valuable feedback to help Baw Baw Shire plan for the next four years and pave a pathway for the future."
Under the Local Government Act 2020, local government areas must adopt or review a Community Vision with a minimum lifespan of 10 years and develop a four-year Council Plan based on its deliberative engagement practices.
The deliberative approach will provide policy and decision-makers with a deep level of understanding of the community's perspectives on Council's role and what the key priorities should be for the next four years, through engaging with a diverse and representative sample of the community.
The end goal for Council is to be able to deliver a range of services that meet community needs in a financially sustainable way.
Council engaged Capire Consulting Group (Capire) to design and deliver elements of the broad engagement, and design, deliver, and report on the deliberative engagement approach.
All contributions by the community panel will now go towards informing the development of the new draft strategic documents, which will be presented back to the community for review, prior to final endorsement by Council at a future Council meeting later in the year.
