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Civil leadership and governance

Strategic objective

Ensure that ethical, financial and socially responsible decision-making reflects community needs and is based on principles of accountability, transparency, responsiveness and consultation.

Key figures

  • $39.2 million net operating cost  
  • 423 properties inspected in the Fire Prevention Program
  • 75% satisfaction with customer service

Case study

Annual commitment

Undertake consultation for the review and refresh of the Boroondara Community Plan 2021-2031 incorporating the Council Plan 2021-25 and Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021-25, to assist Council to deliver on priorities most important to the community.

Project overview

The Boroondara Community Plan is our key strategic document which outlines what the community values most in the City of Boroondara, and demonstrates how Council will practically bring our community’s vision to life. Our plans, processes, strategies, budget decisions and operational actions are informed by this Plan to ensure we’re delivering what is important for those that live, work, study and play in Boroondara. 

The 10-year Plan was initially developed in 2017, informed by 11,845 responses received during community consultation - Council’s largest consultation activity to date. Throughout 2020-21, we began the process of renewing the Boroondara Community Plan to ensure it reflects the current needs and aspirations of our community.

Project aims

Every four years, Council is legislatively required to work with the community to update our 10-year vision under the Local Government Act 2020. The Act requires all Victorian councils to work with the community to develop or update a long-term vision by October 2021 through deliberative engagement practices. It also fulfills our commitment we made in 2017 to ‘keep in touch with the community’. By using some of the questions from the initial consultation for the development of the Boroondara Community Plan, we established benchmarks to compare the community’s needs and aspirations each time the Plan is reviewed in line with the new Council term.

Consulting with our community through a large-scale survey in December and January, followed by deliberative workshops in March and April, is consistent with the consultation method undertaken to develop the Boroondara Community Plan in 2016-17.

Project outcomes

In December and January, more than 4,700 people told us what’s most important to them during Stage 1 consultation. People had their say via Engage Boroondara, our new online engagement platform.

In March and April, over 200 people representative of Boroondara’s diverse community participated in a series of workshops. During the workshops, participants considered the findings from stage 1 of consultation, as well a range of issues, to help guide decisions about where Council should focus its resources in both the medium and long term.

This deliberative engagement process allowed us to collect robust information to inform the update of the Boroondara Community Plan. The findings showed us the seven priority themes that emerged in 2017 are still relevant to our community, with some more important than ever.

The draft Plan is expected to be released for public comment in September 2021, with the final Plan expected to be presented to Council in late-October 2021 for consideration and endorsement.