New Council Plan sets out ambitious goals for future of the Shire

Published on 29 October 2021

At its 27 October Scheduled Meeting, Murrindindi Shire Council adopted its 2021-2025 Council Plan, Year One Priority Action Plan and 10-Year Financial Plan.

Council’s Mayor Sandice McAulay said Council is thrilled to have a new Council Plan that reflects the ideas and priorities provided by the community, through the ‘Shaping Our Future’ community engagement.

‘The Plan outlines our shared goals and aspirations for the future and provides concrete and achievable actions for Council to deliver.

‘While developing the Council Plan, we distilled five main themes from what you told us and these form the backbone of the Plan. These themes will provide important strategic direction for Council’s work over the next four years.

‘Our five themes are Resilient Communities, Beautiful Townships and Rural Settings, Growth and Opportunity, Our Protected Environment and Transparency, Inclusion and Accountability.

‘You told us that you want our communities to be strong, connected and inclusive, with the opportunity for individuals and businesses to grow and thrive.

‘You want Murrindindi Shire to be an even better place to live and one in which we preserve the rural character and natural beauty of our towns and countryside. You want to protect our natural environment, to be environmentally sustainable and move toward net-zero emissions no later than 2035.

‘And you want Councillors and our organisation to listen, be transparent and responsive and to innovate while we help deliver great services to our communities.

‘Council is committing to delivering a range of ambitious strategies for our communities. It is important to note that we do so at a time when an increased burden is being placed on local government to do more – ranging from new governance obligations, climate change mitigation and adaptation, deeper and wider community consultation and communication – while still maintaining the assets and services expected by our communities.

‘We also need to adapt to changing technologies and ensure we’re operating both in the digital and ‘real’ worlds to meet the different needs and expectations of our community.

‘This means we will need to continuously review the services we provide and how we provide them. This will be an ongoing challenge for Council, but one it is important for us to meet in order for us to maintain a strong long-term financial position.

‘You might also be aware that Council’s Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan (MPHWP) was adopted on 22 September. A lot of hard work went into developing the MPHWP and it is the result of collaboration between Council, the community and our health and wellbeing partners’, Cr McAulay added.

‘We’re also looking forward to working on the strategies identified in the MPHWP. These strategies focus on and address key issues and challenges that are prevalent within Murrindindi Shire, including mental health, social isolation, access to healthy food, physical activity and access to appropriate and inclusive services and programs, and aim to achieve positive health and wellbeing outcomes for our community.

‘These plans have been created for our Shire and all our communities – they are your plans. We look forward to working with you to make our Shire an even better place in which to live’, said Cr McAulay.

Click here on the links below to download the relevant documents.

2021-2025 Council Plan(PDF, 8MB)

Year One Priority Action Plan(PDF, 32MB)

10-Year Financial Plan(PDF, 1MB)

2021-2025 Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan(PDF, 7MB)