The Loddon Project - have your say on community engagement

Published on 16 June 2020

Loddon Shire Council is committed to engaging with residents in order to develop three key documents for the Shire. Together, these are known as the Loddon Project and include: a Community Engagement Policy, the Community Vision and a Council Plan.

The revised Local Government Act is encouraging councils to participate more actively in community engagement in order to improve practices, collaborate more effectively and empower stakeholders in decision-making.

Commencing next week, Council will work together with residents over the following 12 months, to review Council’s Community Engagement Policy, develop our Community Vision and then prepare the Council Plan.

The Community Engagement Policy is about how Council seeks input from the community and how residents participate in Council decision making. In order to review the Policy, Council will include the community engagement principles outlined in the Local Government Act, find ways to make it easier for people to participate in the process and gain a greater understanding of the ways communities would prefer to interact with Council for other projects.

Residents can begin to have their say about how they would like to provide input into Council decision-making by taking part in a webinar at 10am on Monday 22 June.

Following the review of the Policy, Council will work with the community to develop the Community Vision. The Vision will be a document which expresses the aims of the community over a 10 year period.

The Vision will be an integral part of developing the Council Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to set out Council’s strategic direction and objectives for a four-year period. The Plan will also include a framework for monitoring the achievement of objectives and provide a description of the Council's initiatives and priorities for services, infrastructure, and amenity.

There are numerous ways residents can be involved and stay up to date with The Loddon Project, including by joining the Loddon Project Facebook page, visiting the Loddon Project page on Council's website as well as taking part in webinars and other engagement activities including the online survey.

Webinar: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-loddon-project-community-engagement-policy-webinar-tickets-108420885788

Loddon Project Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/684395515470441/members

Loddon Project webpage: www.loddon.vic.gov.au/Our-Council/Community-Engagement/The-Loddon-Project

Loddon Project Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZBRD3Z3

Contact: Kate McRae of Projectura on 0407 076 123 or email kate@projectura.com.au