Community planning

Community planning encourages people to work together in their communities to consider and document the social inclusion, capacity building and community participation needs of their community. The information gleaned from the community and provided to Council through the community plan document is used to inform planning, funding, advocacy and community development activities of Council.

Community planning in Loddon

Local Community Planning Committees volunteer their time to coordinate the development and implementation of a community plan for their particular community. To develop a community plan, Community Planning Committees seek the ideas and opinions of the community as a whole via a thorough and inclusive consultation process.

Once the community plan is developed, Community Planning Committees present their plans to Council. Council determine what projects and activities to prioritise and what involvement Council will have as communities work to deliver the actions identified in their community plans.

Getting involved

Community planning is open to everyone in the community, the commitment and amount of input required is flexible. Residents can volunteer to be a member of the local Community Planning Committee to just contribute to one specific project you might be particularly passionate about, or, just to put forward some ideas and suggestions for inclusion in the community plan.

There are many benefits to being involved in community planning. These include;

Helping improve your community such as establishing more social events, develop new infrastructure/facilitates or help to ‘beautify’ the town
Meet new people
Gain satisfaction and a sense of achievement from contributing to the community
Learn new skills

Achievements

Community planning in Loddon Shire has had a strong and proud history and has produced some excellent outcomes that improve the overall lifestyle of residents and visitors.

Some examples of community planning achievements include;

BBQ shelter projects
Bridgewater Foreshore Redevelopment
Dingee historical wall information sign
Inglewood Community Hub project
Janiember Park upgrade (Serpentine Recreation Reserve)
Little Lake Boort recreation precinct (stage one)
Public noticeboard/information board projects
Tarnagulla Community Centre
Various public/town hall upgrade projects
Wedderburn streetscape project

Advice and support

Community Planning Framework: Council has developed a Community Planning Framework(PDF, 2MB) to assist communities with the development of community plans.
Partner – on some occasions Council will partner with the community to deliver a community project. In such instances the community and Council work together, contributing time and resources to make the project happen.
Advice – Council provides communities with information and advice when implementing the projects within their community plans. The information and advice provided includes information on legal and regulatory requirements such as issuing planning permits, building permits, maintenance and engineering advice etc.
Council officers can provide guidance and support on community consultation methods (e.g. establishing community meetings, developing community surveys – guided by the Community Planning Committee)
Advocacy - where Council and community identify a project as important but cannot directly deliver this project either/both may advocate to the responsible organisation to deliver this project upon the community's behalf.