Over the last few months we have been asking Horsham region residents what they love about living in the Horsham region.
It’s all part of the Horsham Rural City Talks project to develop a vision of what sort of municipality we want to be in 20 years.
At the moment, there are two ways that residents can help shape the vision.
Firstly, we are encouraging all residents to host a community conversation. The idea is that anyone can arrange an informal gathering of their friends, colleagues, classmates, teammates or whoever, and download the conversation kit to help guide the discussion points.
Hosting is very easy. You don’t need any expertise or knowledge, just your thoughts and opinions.
You pick the time, the people you want to join the conversation and your preferred way to communicate. Around eight to 10 people is probably a good number.
Then simply discuss and record your responses to the questions that come with the kit.
Thank you very much to the many groups who have completed a community conversation so far.
There is also a short survey on the Council website (under the have your say section) which asks some high-level questions about the way we see ourselves and our aspirations for the future.
The responses so far have been quite interesting.
When residents were asked what they love, a number of popular responses emerged.
These include the country-town feel and relaxed lifestyle as well as the good facilities and open spaces.
When residents were asked to think about what needs to be improved between now and 2041, many have mentioned better roads and transport.
Using the river to its full potential has been another talking point and so has retaining Horsham’s country town feel.
These are just a few of the recurring themes that have come up.
In a few weeks, we will start working with a 40-person Community Panel which has the job of ensuring that the community’s views are collated into the final Community Vision of how we want to be in 2041.
In the meantime, please head to the Council website and dream big, get talking and share your ideas.
No matter who you are or where you’re from, if you live, work or visit the municipality we want to hear from you.
