My apologies for the length of this Blog entry but as you will see, there are some important issues and resources in which you will be interested. I also want to thank many of you who have emailed me your thanks, feedback and comments for this Blog.
STOP PRESS – Christine Nixon For VLGA Members Planning Day!
I am delighted to confirm that we have secured Christine Nixon as our Guest Speaker at our 2009 Members Planning Day, Saturday 23rd May at the Box Hill Town Hall. The day promises to be a landmark event with members informing the future strategic direction of the VLGA.
The Members Planning Day will be facilitated by Anne Dunne, who has been a Director and CEO in the Victorian, South Australian and Northern Territory public services as well as in Local Governments. Anne has many years of consultancy experience in facilitation, mediation, community consultation and organisational development, women and rural development. And did I mention Anne is lots of fun?
With a few surprises, this promises to be a fun day to be remembered! Please pencil this date into your diaries!
VLGA Tips and Shortcuts: Supporting and Promoting Accountability and Responsibility for Councillors (SPARC)
At the 2008 Local Government elections, over three hundred people became Councillors for the first time. Being a Councillor is both a privilege and a responsibility, and we congratulate new Councillors on taking on the challenge and returning Councillors for their ongoing commitment.
At the VLGA, we aim to support Councillors to enable you to represent your communities effectively. We offer training, support and an on-line library of useful information.
We also promote useful resources. So we would like to bring to your attention the local leadership support pack that has been prepared by Local Government Victoria (LGV), and congratulate LGV for the useful information, references and tips.
Whether you are a first time or an experienced Councillor, we would like to recommend that you make use of the five booklets recently mailed to you:
1. Local leadership
2. How it works
3. Account-ability
4. Meetings
5. The Acts
During our Annual Tour visits, the strong feedback from Councillors is that ‘Tips and Shortcuts’ accompanying lengthy reading material would be valuable. So, to assist you in getting the most out of the booklets, we have prepared these for each of LGV’s booklets. These Tips and Shortcuts identify key information that you might be looking for, and a quick reference to help you locate it.
You can find these on the Councillor & Officer Resources section of our website which is a button on the right hand side underneath the link to this Blog. Alternatively we can email these to you if you contact us at vlga@vlga.org.au
Advance Notice: World Environment Day Masterclasses – Kitchen Table Sustainability
We all know how crowded World Environment Day calendars can get, so I wanted you to have advance notice of our exclusive Councillor, Council Officer and Community Leader Masterclasses with renowned community engagement expert Wendy Sarkissian.
Wendy’s most recent book - Kitchen Table Sustainability – Practical Recipes for Community Engagement with Sustainability will be one resource used to explore strategies to engage stakeholders in creating sustainable communities.
Numbers are limited for these 3 Masterclasses, so go to our website www.vlga.org.au to download the details including a registration form today.
VLGA Seeking Extension To Planning & Environment Act Review & Consultations
I have raised the possibility of the Planning Minister extending the deadline for submissions for at least an extra month beyond May 1st.
This request follows strong feedback from our members that the breadth and complexity of issues included in this Review mean the May 1st deadline will be a significant barrier to the majority of Councils and Community Leaders participating in a meaningful way.
The VLGA has been invited to sit on several Working Groups relating to the Review and we will be taking this invitation up to ensure that the views of our members are reflected at the highest levels.
To this end, we invite member councils to send the VLGA comments or copies of your submissions to the review.
I will keep you informed about our request for an extension.
New Members – Hindmarsh and Glen Eira
The relevance and importance of the VLGA’s unique role continues to strike a chord with more Councils indicating their intention to join.
Hindmarsh
Home to around 6,316 residents, Hindmarsh is located in central North West Victoria and is bounded in the north by the Big Desert/Wyperfeld National Park and in the south by the Little Desert National Park. The northern section of the Shire lies in the Mallee region. Its largest town is the well-known Nhill followed by Dimboola, Rainbow and Jeparit.
A major focus for Hindmarsh is to preserve the indigenous vegetation remnants, protect bio-diversity via planted corridors (bio-links) linking the Big and Little Deserts, and to generally increase the amount of cover, by revegetation on private land, landcare projects, as well as improved agricultural and land use practices. Major crops include wheat, barley, oats, lupins, field peas, chick peas, canola, vetches, lentils and faba beans. Hindmarsh Shire also produces over 80% of all ducks in Victoria. Wool and sheep meat are also significant.
The estimated number of visitors to the Shire is 85,000 - 110,000 per year. These people visit the Little Desert National Park, Wyperfeld National Park, Big Desert Wilderness, Little Desert Nature Lodge, Wimmera River, Lake Hindmarsh, Lake Albacutya, Ebenezer Mission, Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum, John Shaw Neilson Cottage, Yurunga Homestead, Pella Church, Pink Lake, fauna & flora, walks, drives, picnic grounds, accommodation, tours, arts, crafts, collectibles, gifts, host farms and major events such as the Wimmera German Fest, the Nhill Duck and Jazz Festival and performances of the play ‘Dimboola’.
Glen Eira
Home to more than 123,000 residents, Glen Eira covers 38.7 square kilometres in inner south-east metropolitan Melbourne. It was formed from the City of Caulfield and the northern part of the City of Moorabbin.
Glen Eira includes the suburbs of Bentleigh, Bentleigh East, Carnegie, Caulfield, Caulfield South, Caulfield North, Caulfield East, Elsternwick, Gardenvale, Glen Huntly, McKinnon, Murrumbeena, Ormond, and part of St Kilda East. An established area, it is Renowned for its abundance of beautiful parks and reserves - 163 hectares or enough to fill 80 MCGs. Glen Eira is also recognised for the many leisure opportunities the city has to offer, including abundant walking and cycling opportunities.
Glen Eira’s 5,953 registered business and commercial enterprises offer a diverse range of opportunities in education, health and community services, finance and property, and retail and wholesale trade — with a flourishing home-based business sector. More than 32,000 people are employed in the City and the unemployment rate is well below Victoria’s average.
Council has an active interest in managing its own growth and has developed Urban Village Structure Plans for each of the City’s three sub-regional shopping centres (Bentleigh, Carnegie, and Elsternwick). These have been included in the Glen Eira Planning Scheme as local policies. The Urban Villages Policy provides a framework for future land use and development within each centre, and identifies areas where mixed use and medium density redevelopment potential exists.
Human Rights Matters Locally
Last week the VLGA hosted a lunch with the Attorney General Rob Hulls and Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Brian Tee and the five Local Governments involved in our project to date - Boroondara, Hume, LaTrobe, Port Phillip and Wodonga.
This was a wonderful opportunity to share progress and feedback. The Attorney General used the lunch to announce a further $90,000 for this important Human Rights work. We are currently trying to locate extra funding to not only continue working with these 5 Local Governments, but to undertake wider work to facilitate the implementation of the Charter across all 79 Local Governments. Watch this space for further announcements.
