Council has voted to adopt the Southern Grampians Recreation and Leisure Strategic Plan and the Lake Hamilton and Pedrina Park Masterplans at last night’s May Council meeting.
The Recreation and Leisure Strategic Plan provides a clear guideline and a long-term vision for the development, provision and promotion of the shire’s sport, recreation and leisure facilities for the next ten years. It builds on the existing infrastructure to reflect best value-for-money, while retaining flexibility for changes in future use and/or multi-use options.
Development of the plan included meeting with sporting clubs, schools, organisations and community groups to better understand their needs. Over 300 public surveys were completed and 50 clubs and organisations participated in forums and interviews. The consultation highlighted what is currently working well and gaps in existing facilities, programs and services.
The draft Strategic Plan and Master Plans for Lake Hamilton and Pedrina Park were placed on public exhibition for a period of six weeks, during which time, 28 written submissions were received. In response to this process, amendments have been made to reflect the submissions where a positive contribution to the Strategy and Masterplans resulted.
Southern Grampians Shire Mayor Cr Mary-Ann Brown said that planning for sport and recreation facilities was becoming increasingly important.
“By adopting the Strategic Plan and Master Plans, Council acknowledge that to achieve our vision to have a healthy and vibrant community that is growing, safe, diverse and inclusive, we must lead and ensure a large community effort and partnership to create opportunities for our community to be active, engaged and participating in active lifestyles that improve health,” Cr Brown said.
“In developing this Recreation and Leisure Strategy we have listened to our community’s priorities. It recommends innovative strategies to meet future challenges, improve quality of life for the community, use existing facilities effectively and make sure that funding is being spent in the right places,” Cr Brown said.
Adoption of these plans provides Council with strategic documents to support future funding applications and inform the strategic direction for future redevelopment of our assets.
“We look forward to working with the community on further detailed designs of some of the major actions within the plans and to commencing the delivery of some of the priority projects listed,” Cr Brown concluded.
The adopted plans and a full list of the recommendations are available to view at http://www.sthgrampians.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.aspx?Page_Id=153