Council release 'Council & Wellbeing Plan' informed by local community
Published on 11 November 2021
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council today released its four-year Council and Wellbeing Plan, which was informed by extensive consultation with the local community.
Councillors have worked for many months to identify the themes and set the priorities for the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s work for the next four years.
Councillors carefully considered all feedback gathered in our wide-ranging community engagement process - Imagine Peninsula 2040, as well as the finalised Community Vision and principles presented by our Imagine 2040 Citizens’ Panel.
We heard from 3,600 people from all over the Peninsula, including our Citizens’ Panel - a group of 36 community members who were independently and randomly selected.
Council also worked with many stakeholder groups in relation to the wellbeing components of the Council and Wellbeing Plan.
The thoughts and ideas of our community, gathered in this process, have informed the Council and Wellbeing Plan, which outlines how Council will work toward fulfilling our community’s vision for 2040.
The development of this Plan also, for the first time, brings together the Council Plan and Health and Wellbeing Plan, reflecting the importance of health and wellbeing in everything we deliver for our community.
The Plan is set out under three themes:
- a healthy natural environment and well-planned townships
- a robust, innovative and diverse economy
- a flourishing, healthy and connected community
Some of our main areas of focus under these themes are:
- protecting, maintaining and enhancing our natural and cultural heritage, biodiversity and wildlife
- working towards the Climate Emergency Plan’s 2040 target of net zero emissions
- ensuring our buildings are accessible and meet current and future community needs
- encouraging entrepreneurship, investment and innovation
- working closely with all sectors to support COVID recovery and beyond
- working in partnership with education providers so our community has access to local learning opportunities
- encouraging arts, cultural, sport and recreational opportunities
- advocating for improve public transport and trail networks.
- delivering programs to support our community’s health and wellbeing
- developing a range of programs and partnerships to support a resilient, inclusive and diverse community.
The Shire will be establishing a new Citizens’ Panel every year to review our progress on the Council and Wellbeing Plan.
Council will keep the community updated on the progress of the plan through regular quarterly and annual reports, published on our website.
To read our Council and Wellbeing Plan visit our website: mornpen.vic.gov.au/councilplan
Quotes attributable to Mayor Councillor Despi O’Connor
“We want to thank the community for their input and acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the Citizens’ Panel for their time in contributing to the Council and Wellbeing Plan - especially the development of the Community Vision, which is one we can all be proud of.
“We are committed to working closely with you to deliver the actions outlined in this Plan. We will do this based on a set of principles that require us to be open and transparent, fair and inclusive of all, to listen carefully and respond to concerns, and to be creative with the mantra of ‘can do’! We will achieve all of this within a framework that prioritises financial sustainability and good governance.”