Consultation Closed - Our Vision and Plan for Baw Baw

Phase 2 - the current consultation opportunity (closed)

Community consultation on the Council Plan and Long Term Financial Plan (both of which have been developed in response to the Community Vision) closed on Friday 20 August 2021. We asked the community to review these documents to ensure our Plans are properly addressing the priorities laid out in the Vision.

Phase 1 – Consultation already completed to date

Extensive community consultation has been undertaken to develop the Baw Baw Shire Community Vision, which in turn has directly informed the draft Council Plan and Long Term Financial Plan.

The below is a summary of the consultation completed so far. For full details, please visit the Community Vision project page. 

• Community Survey: Over 300 responses were received and informed the Community Panel discussions. They were also analysed to develop the draft Council plan.
• Focus Groups: Group discussions to explore specific perspectives with 35 participants over six sessions took place in March. Included a range of stakeholder groups from across Baw Baw Shire, such as new residents, environmental groups, business groups, community service organisations, rural and remote residents and Councillors.
• Community consultations, facilitated through Council and partner organisations, included targeted groups such as children and young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives;
• Community Panel: A 42 member panel was recruited from over 120 applicants to reflect the age, gender, culture, location, ability and employment status of the Shire. The Panel participated in four virtual sessions and one full day in person session - over 16 hours of discussion, reflection and development.
• Additionally, comments posted to Council via social media have been collated to inform the draft Community Vision; and insight into the future goals of children and youth in Baw Baw shire are being collected.
• The draft Community Vision was developed and recommended to Council by members of the Community Panel.
• Council received the draft Community Vision from the Community Panel and placed it on public exhibition alongside the draft Council Plan and Finance Plan. 

The objective of this consultation was to gather feedback from the community in regard to Council’s four-year Council Plan and ten-year Financial Plan, to assess whether or not the priorities in these documents reflect the priorities outlined in the draft Community Vision.

Council Plan

The Council Plan identifies a key strategic direction for the council over the next four years, to readying the Shire for the future, and support community quality of life as we continue to grow.

To achieve this, it identifies three objectives aligned to the Community Vision, being:

• A Sustainable Shire
• A Healthy Community
• A Thriving Community

We’ve developed a coherent set of strategies in response to the strategic direction of the Council and the strategic objectives for the four years 2021 – 2025. The strategies as a whole recognise the integrated and related nature of the challenges we face and what we are trying to achieve.

Long Term Financial Plan

The Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) is Council’s key financial planning document that contains a series of financial assumptions and strategies, accompanied by numerous performance indicators that Council considers when making significant strategic decisions about resource allocation.  

The plan covers a ten-year period (2021/22 – 2030/31), to assist with mapping Council’s long term financial stability, and to allow strategically considered decisions regarding the long term financial direction and of Council.

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. Your thoughts and ideas are highly valued and will ultimately form part of Council’s decision making process.

Council Officers will consolidate comments and feedback and consider all submissions to assist in making further recommendations to Council. 

Have questions? We’re here to help! For questions about the Community Vision, Council Plan or Long Term Financial Plan please contact Council on 5624 2411 or by email at bawbaw@bawbawshire.vic.gov.au.