Brimbank Council is implementing a Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response and Recovery Strategy to help address the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Brimbank and limit impacts on community, businesses, and cultural and sporting groups across the municipality.
Brimbank Mayor, Cr Georgina Papafotiou said the COVID 19 pandemic is one of the most serious issues today, and the health and safety of our residents and staff continues to remain Council’s top priority.
‘Brimbank’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Strategy considers the important role we can play to assist our local businesses and residents not just now, but as we recover and rebuild.
‘This is a genuine whole-of-council Strategy focused on our community. It will help ensure all resources, programs and initiatives across Council can assist in the response and recovery.
‘This strategy includes a range of current and future initiatives, and most importantly, it gives Council the agility to adapt and grow our response depending on how the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold.
‘Besides health impacts, we know the pandemic is also causing significant hardship for many. Our strategy therefore also identifies key ways Council can reduce the financial pressure on affected ratepayers, businesses, community organisations and sporting clubs. This includes measures like rates payment plans, and more.
‘Council will regularly monitor its actions and report back, to keep our community informed and enable them to participate in emerging opportunities,’ Cr Papafotiou said.
The Strategy includes five key Response Pillars:
- Health and Wellbeing Response
- Community Support Response (Financial Hardship and Resource Support)
- Economic Development and Business Support Response
- Economic Support Response
- Communications, Engagement and Advocacy Response
The first stage of the Strategy focuses on short term relief and direct support measures, while Stage 2 focuses on recovery and rebuilding.
Key initiatives across Stage 1 and 2 include:
- Expanding Council’s Aged, Home Care, Community Register and Meals on Wheels Programs- including 1,500 additional meals over this initial response phase.
- A new COVID-19 Financial Hardship Policy, to assist local businesses, residents and ratepayers
- A Brimbank COVID-19 Rate, Charges and Fee Review
- A Workforce Redeployment Strategy to support areas of increasing demand
- New innovative maternal health, youth and learning services
- Developing a support package for local sporting clubs
- A revised ‘Brimbank Community Recovery’ Grant Program
- Establishing a Brimbank COVID-19 Business Response and Recovery Taskforce
- A Brimbank Business ‘Micro-Grants’ Program
- Developing a ‘Local Jobs for Local People’ Program
- Developing Social Wellbeing and Connection Resources for local service providers, council staff and residents
- Developing an economic support response that considers Council’s Capital Works Program, and Federal-State Government opportunities through the Transforming Brimbank Agenda.
- New ‘Brimbank Proud’ campaigns to support both the local community and businesses
Council will continue to assess its Coronavirus Response & Recovery Strategy on an ongoing basis, as updated public health and wellbeing advice is released by Federal and State authorities, and economic circumstances change.
Council has written to the Federal and State governments calling for Brimbank Coronavirus strategies to be fully integrated with their own, including through an integrated ‘health and wellbeing partnership’ between local community health providers, networks and broader hospital and social service network.
Council is also encouraging government investment in shovel ready projects, such as the Melbourne Airport Rail (MAR), St Albans Health and Wellbeing Hub, and the Home of the Matildas at Sydenham Park, to support and stimulate the local economy as part of the recovery phase.
