2024 – 2025 Draft Annual Budget & Draft Council Plan Year 3 Action Plan
Phase One Community Consultation Report
6 | P a g e
Community Voice Panel
Within the current priorities, Community Voice Panel members
emphasised the following:
Plant more trees and bushes.
Enhance natural habitats and increase shade
Advocate for greater tree coverage
Encourage residents to plant greenery in their strips for
biodiversity and aesthetics
Enforce standards for nature strips to enhance greenery
Create greener, welcoming and accessible streets.
Youth
would like to see an increase
in ‘
greener streets
’
and natural habitats. They also saw an opportunity
to encourage community participation in tree planting and gardening.
Community Voice Panel
Within the current priorities, Community Voice Panel members
emphasised the following:
Energy and Resources
Invest in community batteries for cheaper electricity and capacity.
Promote renewable energy accessibility for community.
Advocate for economic incentives for heat-friendly building materials.
Encourage permeable concrete (if concrete is required)
Integrate climate requirements into planning applications.
Heatwave Mitigation and Green Spaces
Restore waterways, remediate contaminated land, and preserve industrial paddocks.
Explore cooling garden initiatives & expand tree canopy to reduce heat effects.
Establish heatwave shelters for people during extreme temperatures.
Land use planning to protect green spaces and increase tree coverage.
Consider options to address the rabbit problem
Continued advocacy for environmental initiatives in the West.
Community Engagement and Education
Conduct community education about pollution, conservation, and heat
friendly building materials.
Provide simple, detailed guides for conservation and recycling.
Establish community food gardens and smaller tree parks.
Improve access to recycling centres, especially for garden waste
Develop planting guides for native strips and a list of plants to attract insects and animals.
Introduce cat curfews to address community concerns.
Encourage volunteering for environmental restoration efforts.
Support the rehabilitation of creeks, planting, and indigenous information in parks.
Greening/Beautification
Climate/Conservation
Youth
Use wood for shared paths
instead of concrete.
Increase proactive waste
removal and adopt sustainable
practices
Protect grasslands and habitat
Create more partnerships to
develop solar initiatives
What is Council doing for Greening and Beautification?
Last financial year, Council:
Conducted four community conservation restoration (planting) days along the Maribyrnong River, Taylors Creek and
Kororoit Creek.
Offered a multitude of climate change initiatives, including the Seedlings in Schools program, benefiting 35 schools
and early learning centres.
What is Council doing for Climate and Conservation?
Last financial year, Council:
Rolled out the planting of street trees in Kings Park, Deer Park and St Albans and approximately 20,000 tube stock
plants.
Continued the Nature Places program to highlight importance of remnant grasslands at Bon Thomas Reserve.
Increased the promotion of Food Organics and Garden Organics collection service to increase voluntary uptake to
greater than current 59%.
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Attachment 12.1.4
2024 – 2025 Draft Annual Budget & Draft Council Plan Year 3 Action Plan
Phase One Community Consultation Report
7 | P a g e
3.2 Places and Spaces - New Ideas/Priorities
(New/Additional) Space Activation
Some Community Voice Panel members spoke of their
interest in ‘
space
activation’
to improve
public realm and provided the following ideas:
Explore activation strategies for vacant businesses, such as art installations and pop-up
events.
Repurpose unused spaces like the old Sunshine Tech for community gardens or
recreational areas.
Evaluate existing initiatives to see if further developments or improvements can be made.
What is Council doing for Place Activation?
Council conducted a range of visitor-economy-related activities including:
Supporting the Western Melbourne Tourism Board initiative 'Namaste Westside Project', which
was awarded $190,000 from the State Government's Visitor Servicing Fund
Appointing a new Senior Economic Development Officer
–
Tourism
Council is delivering the 2023/2024 Enjoy Local Activation Program with 21 activations across the
suburbs of Keilor, Keilor Park, Albion, Deer Park, Delahey, St Albans, Sunshine West, Sunshine North,
St Albans Town Centre and the Sunshine Town Centre
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Attachment 12.1.4
2024 – 2025 Draft Annual Budget & Draft Council Plan Year 3 Action Plan
Phase One Community Consultation Report
8 | P a g e
4. Consultation Findings (Opportunity & Prosperity)
Section 4 collates input from the Community Voice Panel, Youth Focus Group, a meeting with
BATSICC, a meeting with Council’s Disability Advisory Group and a pop
-up session with older
adults. Respondents were invited to comment on the current priorities (listed) and to provide
other ideas and thoughts on new priorities.
Employment and Education
4.1 Prosperity and Opportunity - Current Priorities
Community Voice Panel
Within the current priorities, Community Voice Panel
members emphasised the following:
Youth Employment
Provide practical job experiences (e.g., "Youth Shed")
Showcase employment opportunities via job expos
Encourage business development coaching programs
Offer volunteering opportunities targeted to youth.
Lobby to mitigate challenges hindering youth employment.
Local Business
Support local businesses through social procurement and
sustainable employment initiatives.
Encourage innovation, collaboration between businesses
and educational institutions.
Education and work readiness
Advocate for workplace readiness programs for a range of
groups - returning to workforce, people with disability,
women who have raised children, First Nations people and
non-English speakers.
Promote digital literacy programs for specific groups (e.g.,
older people).
Promote lifelong learning opportunities and tailored literacy
programs.
Lobby for better educational infrastructure and community
spaces for learning.
Foster intergenerational knowledge transfer in programming
where possible.
Employment/Education
Youth
Promote diversity in internships.
Foster leadership development
through programs and events.
Offer career counselling, youth-led
tutoring workshops, skill-building
programs and access to digital
devices for education.
Support business development start
ups to create job opportunities.
Older people
suggested more multi
language books in libraries and the
delivery of targeted multi-language
programs for young children.
BATSICC
respondents would like to
see
business development support for
First Nations businesses, including
mentorship for start-ups.
Disability Advisory Committee
(DAC)
Create opportunity for people with
disability to work in council, including
apprenticeships and volunteering; set
targets to drive action.
Increase opportunity for students to
access a portal where they can learn
more about roles in council such as in
Customer Service, depot.
Lead by example
–
e.g. BAWC has a
swim teacher with autism to teach
students who have autism.
Implement Hidden Disabilities
Sunflower scheme in council e.g.
Customer Service.
What is Council doing for Employment and Education?
Council offered practical workplace experiences to young people
through a structured Placement Program, including opportunities for
entry level employment in Neighbourhood Houses and introductions
to local business and employer networks. This included an accredited
hospitality course combining café operations with safe food handling,
workplace health and safety and responsible service of alcohol.
Council also piloted the LinkedIRL youth professional networking
program and delivered a ‘white card’ micro
-credential course.
Council officers implemented a range of strategies to promote
Brimbank as a business location and facilitate development to deliver
investment and economic uplift.
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Attachment 12.1.4
2024 – 2025 Draft Annual Budget & Draft Council Plan Year 3 Action Plan
Phase One Community Consultation Report
9 | P a g e
4.2 Prosperity and Opportunity - New Ideas/Priorities
Supporting Business
•
Promote Brimbank as an employment hub to attract businesses and offer pre-opening
promotion support.
•
Provide small business support, especially for small online businesses.
•
Encourage local hiring and offer incentives for businesses to invest in the area.
•
Engage in activities like mystery picnics to promote and uncover local businesses.
•
Explore alternatives to individual business support, like free markets and online directories.
•
Implement creative approaches like business networking nights to aid local businesses.
•
Establish a community bike shed and repair café inspired by successful models elsewhere
‘Marketing’ Brimbank
•
Position Brimbank as an appealing living
destination.
•
Develop Brimbank as a distinct tourism
destination by identifying unique offerings or
niche products e.g. promote local natural
attractions like the Organ Pipes.
What is Council doing for Business?
In the last financial year, Council:
Facilitated business development programs attracting more than 350 attendees.
Delivered the Jobs Victoria Advocates program across Brimbank Libraries, schools, shopping
centres, markets and community centres, engaging with over 300 job seekers.
Installed footpath, bin and door decals promoting Council
’
s
‘
Think.Shop.Buy
’
Local campaign in
18 locations across Brimbank.
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Attachment 12.1.4
2024 – 2025 Draft Annual Budget & Draft Council Plan Year 3 Action Plan
Phase One Community Consultation Report
10 | P a g e
5. Consultation Findings (Leadership & Governance)
A small number of respondents also made suggestions that best align with the Strategic Direction
of Leadership and Governance.
Increase promotions to raise youth awareness and participation in local government and
communities.
Provide information on how council
’s
work aligns with state and federal government
actions. Provide transparency in Council budgeting and spending.
Council
’
s Leadership and Governance role
–
some examples:
The Brimbank Youth Council program aims to encourage young people to become community
leaders; offering opportunities to meet with Councillors, develop skills, build networks and gain
experience.
Whole-of-council advocacy was very successful, securing over $300 million in government
investments for our community. Council recently designed and delivered a refreshed Advocacy Plan
2023- 2025, which sets out Brimbank
’
s key advocacy priorities including:
Transforming Brimbank
Mental health
Road infrastructure
Climate emergency
Addressing unemployment
Housing and homelessness
Melbourne Airport Third Runway
Gambling harm
Major parks
Libraries
Council adheres to a Public Transparency Policy which align to the Local Government Act 2020.
https://www.brimbank.vic.gov.au/about-council/how-we-work/policies-plans-and-strategies/policies/public
transparency-policy
Council adopts an Annual Report each year at an open council meeting. The Annual Report is sent to
the Minister for Local Government and includes a Report of Operations, as well as audited Financial
Statements and Performance Statement. https://www.brimbank.vic.gov.au/about-council/how-we
work/annual-reports
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Attachment 12.1.4
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