Council has taken a major step towards creating a fairer and more equitable approach for investing in community places and spaces.
Council has approved the release of the draft Social Infrastructure Planning and
Investment Policy.
The aim of the new policy is to ensure that when it comes to investing
in community infrastructure and services our decision-making is clear, fair,
equitable and based on evidence and insights from our community.
A key aspect of the draft policy is encouraging the City and the community to
look at new partnership opportunities and different ways of delivering social
infrastructure.
Working in partnership with our community will help achieve key priorities
listed in the Council Plan 2018-2022, such as:
- providing
more quality spaces that support active lifestyles; - supporting
the growth of localised and regional sporting facilities; - delivering
accessible and attractive community infrastructure, based on community need; - advocating
and planning for a range of social and affordable housing options; and - maintaining our public open space.
Once the policy is finalised and endorsed, a social
infrastructure plan will then be presented to Council.
In response to the new
policy, the plan will identify future investment priorities and help people
understand what is planned in their local area. The plan will evolve and be
continually updated to reflect changing needs and new information.
The final plan will
consider a range of social infrastructure investments, including community
facilities, kindergartens, leisure centres, parks and sporting reserves.
The development of a draft
policy follows a Council resolution in April 2018 to review the Draft
Social Infrastructure Plan 2014-2031.
As part of that process,
the City undertook extensive community and stakeholder engagement in the latter
half of 2018. A key finding from the consultation was that the community looks
to Council to make decisions about investing in community infrastructure that
ensure accessibility, equity and sustainability.
