Southern Grampians Shire Council has adopted the 2017-2021 Council Plan at its June ordinary meeting this week.
Southern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Mary-Ann Brown said the four year plan is the key document that drives the strategic direction of Council.
“The Council Plan seeks to outline where Council and the community will be by 2021 and how Council will achieve those outcomes. It identifies Council’s five fundamental priority areas. These priorities have formed the themes of the Council Plan and will help achieve our vision for the future,” Cr Brown said.
The themes of the 2017-2021 Southern Grampians Shire Council Plan are:
• Support our community;
• Develop our regional economy and businesses;
• Plan for our built environment;
• Promote our natural environment; and
• Provide governance and leadership.
“Under each of these themes, objectives and strategies have been identified to guide Council over the next four years and performance measures developed to help monitor how we are tracking against these objectives. Strategies and plans provide more detail about key priorities, how these will be addressed and the initiatives or services Council will provide.
“Each year Council will report its progress in the Annual Report. We are also considering an appropriate forum to present our annual achievements and following year objectives to the community,” Cr Brown said.
The Council Plan was developed through extensive community consultation. Council ran 11 engagement sessions across 10 towns and engaged with over 230 attendees. More than 950 ideas were shared by the community, with six common themes being identified - footpaths, street tree maintenance, road maintenance, more support from Council with grants and permits, digital connectivity and increased promotion of our region and existing natural assets. All of these common themes appear as objectives or strategies in the final Council Plan.
“We thank the community for their input into the development of this plan. It was very pleasing to see so many residents make the effort to have input into the future of our region.
“Following the engagement sessions we workshopped themes and objectives between Councillors and with Council staff. We are confident this document accurately reflects the needs, aspirations and expectations of the entire Southern Grampians Community,” Cr Brown concluded.
A copy of the Council Plan 2017-2021 is available on our website.