1,600+ contribute to development of new Community Vision

Published on 12 July 2021

Hundreds of people from all ages, walks of life and backgrounds have contributed to the first phase of a major project to develop a new Community Vision for the Mildura region.

More than 1,600 people took up Mildura Rural City Council’s invitation to Imagine 2040 earlier this year – sharing their ideas through workshops, illustrations, surveys, vox pop videos, a digital engagement platform and targeted conversations throughout March and April.

Mildura Mayor Jason Modica thanked everyone who got involved and invited the community to review the collated feedback received during the extensive engagement process.

“It is incredibly insightful to learn what people like most about our region and what they think could make it an even better place to live, work, play and visit in the next 20 years,” Cr Modica said.

A relaxed lifestyle, thriving economy, environmental sustainability, collaborative leadership and healthy, respectful and connected communities emerged as key themes for our community to focus on over the next 20 years.

All Victorian councils are working with their communities to develop and endorse a long-term community vision by 31 October 2021, in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020.

A Community Vision describes what everyone wants for the future of their region and community. It highlights what the community values most and sets out a long-term vision and key priorities for achieving that vision.

“It’s important that the vision is a true reflection of our diverse community so it’s great that a broad demographic cross-section of people have been involved so far.”

Since the March-April engagement program Council has worked with an independent social researcher to analyse and theme the community’s feedback.

“We have listened to what the community said and it is now time to share the findings from the March-April engagement process in more detail,” Cr Modica said.

“We want to check in and give everyone the chance to look over how we have interpreted community input and let us know if it looks right before we progress the Community Vision further.”

Residents are invited to review the results of the Imagine 2040 engagement and provide feedback through an online survey, which is open now until Sunday 25 July.

For more information and to participate go to yoursay.mildura.vic.gov.au/Imagine