Cardinia Shire Council - Annual Report 2017-18

Cardinia Shire Council Annual Report 2014–15 2017–18
2013–14 Year in review
Emergency planning for safer
communities
Cardinia Shire has a long history of flooding and bushfires
that have resulted in property loss and damage, stock
loss and even loss of life. Emergency planning and
management is critical in building safer communities
because it helps communities prepare for safety risks
and emergency events. In 2017–18, Council undertook
prescribed burns to reduce fire hazard for the first time in
many years as part of its 10-year prescribed burning plan.
Council also hosted a Community Emergency Resilience
Forum in May 2018 for local residents and community
groups. Over 80 people attended the forum, which
focussed on promoting resilience building and community
preparation for emergencies. Community emergency
resilience is a community’s ability to use the resources
at their disposal to respond to, withstand, and recover
from emergencies. It benefits the whole community and
is strengthened by identifying and training community
leaders to support their communities. Attendees of the
forum learnt about resilience issues facing communities
in the shire, discussed local initiatives that build resilience
to emergencies, and planned new initiatives to improve
community resilience to emergencies.
Challenges
Cardinia Shire is one of the state’s fastest growing
municipalities, with five families moving into our shire
each week and about four babies being born every day.
Between 2016 and 2041, the population of the shire
is forecast to increase by 101,000 people to reach
198,626. By that time, our population will have almost
doubled from the 2017 population of 102,516.
Effectively managing our population growth while
continuing to meet community expectations is a priority
for Council. The demand on our community infrastructure
and services continues to grow with our population,
placing greater importance on planning and sustainability.
Cardinia Shire Council remains committed to providing
high quality services and facilities for our community.
We also need to attract further services to the shire that
address the diverse needs of our babies, children, youth,
families and seniors.
With the launch of the Liveability Plan 2017–29, Council
has shifted the approach of the municipal public health
and wellbeing plan to focus on liveability, rather than
health risk factors. Ownership of the plan has also
shifted from solely Council to shared ownership between
Council, other partners and the community; providing the
benefit of a collaborative approach and the challenges of
multiple stakeholders.
Looking forward
We’ll continue to develop recreational facilities that
provide structured sport and social participation
opportunities for our residents. Works are underway on
major projects and in the coming year we’ll be working
hard to progress or complete works at James Bathe
Recreation Reserve, Emerald Netball Facility, Comely
Banks Recreation Reserve and Deep Creek Reserve.
We’ll also continue to deliver an annual program to
improve the condition, operation and accessibility of
community facilities. Our best-practice renewal program
extends the life of assets and ensures we undertake the
appropriate combination of maintenance, rehabilitation
and replacement.
In line with the Liveability Plan, Council will facilitate
and support a second community summit to encourage
community members and groups to collaborate on the
development of new projects and initiatives that address
our community’s social and health challenges, including
the Cardinia Food Circles collective impact initiative.
Council will also host the inaugural Housing Summit to
bring leaders in the field together to discuss and share
issues pertaining to homelessness, financial insecurity,
disability and mental health. Council will also be working
to finalise its first Social and Affordable Housing Strategy
to address current and future housing needs across
the shire.
In line with our Child and Family Strategy 2017–21,
we will host a Children’s Conference in 2018 to give
the children of our shire a voice that can be taken into
consideration for future planning and decision making.
We’ll also continue to work with a range of agencies to
bring children’s and family services to Cardinia Shire and
build further integrated child and family centres in line
with population forecasting.
Together We Can will continue its work to change
attitudes and behaviours in order to help prevent family
violence in our community. We’ll host a 2018 Leadership
Summit to develop a ‘round table’ of community leaders
that represent all community settings. We will continue to
plan, collaborate and build momentum to create cultural
change and end family violence.
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