Australia
Participate Melbourne
22-02-2021
22/02/2021
31-07-2021
The Community Vision for the City of Melbourne was developed through a deliberative engagement process with people who live, work, study, visit or own a business across the municipality. The vision reflects this diverse set of voices collectively. The Community Vision comprises an overarching vision statement and a series of future community aspirations. Together, these will guide decision makers in shaping policy, plans and prioritising investments.
In response to the Community Vision, the Council has developed the strategic objectives for the next four-year Council Plan. These are outlined below and set the direction for the next four years. The vision for Melbourne as a 'city of possibility' anchors and connects these objectives to deliver real outcomes for the community. The Council Plan consists of six strategic objectives that guide the Council to achieve the community's aspirations outlined in the Community Vision. Together, the strategic objectives reflect the City of Melbourne's long- term strategic direction that considers people, culture, the economy and the environment holistically.
Over the next four years, they will focus on driving economic recovery and creating the conditions for a strong, adaptive, sustainable and thriving future city economy supported by a diverse mix of industries and jobs that provide dignity and opportunity.
They will celebrate and protect the places, people and cultures that make Melbourne a unique, vibrant and creative city with world-leading liveability.
For the Wurundjeri, Bunurong, Taungurung, Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin, the place now known as Melbourne has always been an important meeting place and location for events of political, cultural, social and educational significance. Over the next four years, they will ensure that First Peoples' culture, lore, knowledge, and heritage enrich the city's growth and development.
They will prioritise the environment and take urgent action to reduce emissions and waste in order to protect public health, strengthen the economy and create a city that mitigates and adapts to climate change. The City of Melbourne declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019.
They also plan to reduce economic and social inequality by ensuring universal access to housing, core services and information.
They will plan and design for the safety and wellbeing of those who live, visit, work and do business in Melbourne, regardless of their background.
Each of the six Council strategic objective includes:
Over the course of the engagement period, more than 750 people from a range of different backgrounds have the opportunity to speak. The majority of participants contributed to both qualitative and quantitative data, some participants did not prioritise their aspirations and instead focused on sharing their insights and ideas on these aspirations and the future of Melbourne.
All participants:
In line with the Local Government Act 2020, the City of Melbourne undertook a period of deliberative engagement in March 2021. People from across the municipality's different neighbourhoods who live, work, study, visit or own a business, were invited to share their aspirations for the future of the city and help develop a new 10-year Community Vision and four- year Council Plan.
The Community Vision is designed to articulate the long-term aspirations that the community has for the municipality.
The Community Vision comprises two parts:
The Council Plan defines the Council's strategic objectives for the next four years and the priorities and initiatives it will deliver in order to achieve the strategic objectives. It also outlines a set of indicators and targets which will be used to measure progress. It is informed by the community's aspirations as outlined in the Community Vision, as well as Council's role, responsibilities and financial position.
In March 2021 the city of Melbourne completed a consultation with the community to help inform the future aspirations and plans for the City of Melbourne. The priorities identified through this consultation period helped shape the draft 10 year Community Vision, which is incorporated in the draft Council Plan 2021–â 25. The Council Plan will be implemented through annual commitments set out in the annual budget, which reflects Council's decisions on the initiatives to be funded each year.
The final Council Plan 2021–â 25 was endorsed by Council on Tuesday 29 June 2021. This document describes the Council's and community's vision for the future, how the Council will strive towards that vision during its four-year term, where it will focus its efforts, and how it will measure progress. It also outlines how the Council will protect, improve and promote public health and wellbeing within the municipality. This plan is the result of deliberative engagement with a broad cross-section of the community, who are defined as the Traditional Custodians of the land and people who live, work, study, visit or own a business in the municipality. These engagement processes have brought the voice of the community to Council and helped shape the long-term direction of the municipality and key components of this plan. As such, this plan considers the needs of all people who access and experience all neighbourhoods and places within the City of Melbourne municipality.
The Community Vision is designed to articulate the long-term hopes that the community has for the municipality. The City of Melbourne's community vision comprises two parts - a vision statement and narrative, supported by a series of aspiration statements that are derived from the insights that emerged from the community engagement.
The Community Vision also helps to guide the development of the new four year Council Plan, which includes our health and wellbeing focus areas.
The Councils
Local councils are responsible for the governance and delivery of services that support the community at the municipal level. This includes planning and building services, waste management, local laws and emergency management and recreation and community services. In governance terms, local councils are elected by, and accountable to, the people who live and do business within the municipality. As such, the importance of being responsive to the voices in the community is critical to success.
The following outlines the health and wellbeing focus areas for Council over the next four years.
Collaboration is critical to future success and a connected experience across our community. They partner with state, federal and regional governments as well as stakeholders across the community, business and industry sectors so they can drive collective change. With all groups bringing a unique perspective, a common approach can be agreed, as is appropriate in a healthy democratic environment.
They value the cooperative working partnerships they have with the Victorian Government, industry and other community stakeholders. They are keen to continue these partnerships as we look ahead to the next four years. Some of the key areas of partnership in the Council Plan include:
Tracking the progress
The Council Plan will be implemented, reported, evaluated and reviewed as part of a dynamic ongoing process. The City of Melbourne will monitor progress against the indicators in this plan and report back to the community annually on progress through the Annual Report. While reporting will track progress, these regular reviews will also ensure the plan continues to meet the needs of the community in an environment facing ongoing changes. Our community engagement will be ongoing and help shape any shifts required.The indicators of progress in this plan will help demonstrate progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a United Nations framework supported by the City of Melbourne. The 2030 Agenda sets out 17 ambitious SDGs for all countries to aim to achieve by the year 2030. These global goals contain 169 targets, which are aligned with 231 unique indicators designed to measure progress at a national level. More than half of the world's population now lives in cities, with urban dwellers accounting for a disproportionate share of economic production, consumption, and associated waste. As a result, implementation of the 2030 Agenda within urban areas is critical to its success. The City of Melbourne has identified an initial set of indicators - starting with those that appear in this Council Plan - that will help us track Melbourne's performance against the global SDGs over time. This will enable us to benchmark our performance against other cities and make informed decisions on where to prioritise our effort, share success and learn from others.
Timeline of the Community Vision
Next steps
A draft of the Community Vision and Council Plan has been released for public exhibition in May 2021 via Participate Melbourne. The community's feedback from public exhibition will be synthesised into a series of recommendations and presented to Council for consideration. A revised four-year Council Plan will be presented to Council for endorsement in June 2021. Participate Melbourne will continue to be used as the central hub for communication with the community throughout the development of the 10-year Community Vision and four-year Council Plan.
Sources:
Community vision consultation summary
Community members shape City of Melbourne's Community Vision and Council Plan | City of Melbourne
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