We regularly feature a blog by a different Mayor on how their council is making a positive difference for their community.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Daniel Moloney

This year, we saw a major strategic planning milestone for the City of Ballarat.

As part of the Local Government Act 2020, a range of highly influential plans for our community’s future have been adopted, including a four-year Council Plan, a 10-year Community Vision and a 10-year Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan.

But, for me, the most exciting part of this suite of documents is the high community input level involved in their creation.

As Councillors, we are elected to represent our community, so it’s crucial we know what the people of Ballarat want for their city going forward.

The Ballarat – Our Future community engagement process was one of the largest ever undertaken in our municipality and provided us, as councillors, with really strong guidance from our residents as to how they want Ballarat to look, not only by 2025 but also as far ahead as 2031.

This two-stage engagement process involved both participatory and deliberative engagement, with 1981 responses across the participatory section and over 4000 ideas shared through surveys, listening posts and our mySay website.

For the compulsory deliberative stage, a community panel was appointed comprising of 50 residents that broadly matched Ballarat’s demographics.

The panel’s role was to transform the participatory engagement’s broad themes and messages into more tangible directions for Council.

Over two weekend workshops, the panel developed a vision statement, decision-making principles, consolidated themes and identified action areas under each theme.

It was not only a new process but a massive learning curve for both us and the panel members. We got to see our residents honing thoughts and ideas down into solid actions and they got to interact with us on a substantial and collaborative level.

Ballarat – Our Future also significantly informed our 2021-22 budget.

Delivering key infrastructure and services, while managing sustainable growth and the environment, were key themes addressed.

Priorities included everything from skate parks to galleries, roads to trails, footpaths to cycling paths and tree planting to hosting events.

We will also focus on integrated transport infrastructure and have a greater emphasis on sustainability and community services quality, especially during post-COVID recovery.

We are also transitioning our traditional waste services to a more circular economy with critical infrastructure investment required to build a Materials Recovery Facility which will stimulate the municipality’s economy by creating jobs and flow on industries.

I think we have added real purpose to our future through our collective passion to see Ballarat grow in a sustainable manner and flourish in the way we want.

The Community Vision is now a vision for everyone who lives, works, studies, and plays in Ballarat.

It has come from, and belongs to, our community. We asked them to tell us what their priorities were for our city. We heard them, and we will act on what they told us.

This vision will inform our strategic direction and planning to ensure our community’s voice is considered in all of Council’s decisions and work.

The level of engagement in this important work reflects an engaged and empowered community. This process has provided an opportunity to build relationships and two-way communication between Council and our community.

Mayor Daniel Moloney
City of Ballarat