Baw Baw Shire Council has adopted the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021-2025 which guides Council’s statutory responsibility for improving the health and wellbeing of the community.
The adopted Plan outlines how Council will fulfill its obligations of service provision, good governance, advocacy, regulation, and capacity building. The information contained within the Plan directly aligns with Baw Baw Shire’s Community Vision for a sustainable, healthy, and thriving community.
The Plan was developed with the input of Council’s Healthy Baw Baw Advisory Committee and several key stakeholder groups and was guided by community input received during the extensive Community Vision consultation processes.
The Plan identifies four key priority areas and corresponding strategies to achieve the goals of each priority. These are:
- Active Living – To increase participation in active living, arts and culture for everyone.
- Healthy Eating – To support equitable access to adequate, affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food and beverages.
- Mental Wellbeing – To enhance mental wellbeing by creating resilient, connected, and socially inclusive communities.
- Gender Equity and Prevention of Family Violence – To create a more gender equitable and respectful community that is free from violence.
Prior to its adoption by Council, the draft Plan was presented to the public for consultation for three weeks from 11 August to 2 September 2021. Council received a total of 36 submissions.
Several key themes were identified across the responses, including requests for greater emphasis on arts and culture, direct reference to the Live4Life initiative, greater emphasis on youth and more specific reference to the Baw Baw community. The relevant feedback was considered and incorporated into the final adopted Plan.
The Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan can be found in the A – Z Policies and Documents section of Council’s website.
Quote attributable to Mayor Cr Danny Goss
“I would like to thank everyone who participated in this consultation. The Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan is an important document that will guide Council’s health and wellbeing activities now and into the future. This will ultimately affect anyone living in Baw Baw Shire. This document sets out clear goals and objectives that Council can take towards a more sustainable, healthy, and thriving community.”
Quote attributable to Cr Jazmin Tauru
“I would like to thank all those who have sent through a submission during the consultation process. It is crucial that Council hear the views of the community on this key document that spans over four years and affects the whole community. This document dives into key topics including climate change, mental health, prevention of violence and gender equity that affect our entire community therefore it is important to keep raising the issues and having the conversation. The document outlines clear steps Council can take towards improving the health and wellbeing of our residents in line with the community vision.”
