Shaping West Wimmera

The health and prosperity of our community is paramount. We will work together to build strong and engaged communities where diversity, participation and healthy lifestyles are encouraged and valued. Our community will be supported, safe and inclusive.

Council will work with our partners to ensure we have access to the right housing, health, education, community and recreation facilities and equitable quality services. We will seek to inspire, engage and connect with our community knowing that working collaboratively together can achieve more and deliver better outcomes.

Our future is reliant on growing a diverse and viable economic base that attracts investment and jobs and takes advantage of our natural advantages.

We will embrace and develop new ideas and approaches to create a vibrant community with opportunities for all whilst building on our strengths in agriculture and supporting our town centres.

To be successful we must take the lead in retaining existing employment opportunities and in attracting new and diverse opportunities, particularly for young people and families. Physical connections in our community are vital and we will pursue sustainable improvements to our road network and advocate for broader road and public transport improvements.

We will support the development of tourism and leverage the potential of our history and environment to promote our place in regional tourism.

Sustainability in West Wimmera is about making decisions now that mean we can hand the Shire to future generations in a better condition than it is in today.

Our focus will be on thoughtful environmental custodianship seeking to responsibly meet our future food, energy and waste needs.

Water security underpins our way of life and is essential for our future.

We will consider and promote innovative and sustainable waste management options for our community.

Support for the agricultural sector will include advocacy on matters of importance to the sector that enable sustainable land management. Our natural areas, lakes and wetlands are highly valued for their environmental and recreational values, and we will partner with others to promote and maintain these special assets.

In delivering good governance, Council has an opportunity to share with the community the challenges for future service planning and provision.

Active community participation in engagement processes and transparent decision making will give insights and confidence that engagement has informed decision making. Council’s leadership will focus on developing a high performing and sustainable organisation that is customer focused and delivers responsive services.

The provision of timely community information and a commitment to excellence and responsible financial management are paramount. Financial Sustainability will be maintained through effective use of Council’s resources and assets and prudent management of risk.

Our commitment – we will proactively drive and live our values: Innovative, Accountable, United, and Collaborative.

Following community consultation, council has developed a Council Plan, focussing on four main goals, namely a liveable and healthy community, diverse and prosperous economy, sustainable environment and good governance.

These goals will ensure delivery against the Council Plan and underpin all decisions made by the Council.

The goals, strategies and initiatives will guide our strategic planning, processes, service delivery and the management of assets in a prudent and efficient way, taking our limited resources into consideration.

The community consultation has also indicated that the community not only cares about what we deliver, but also how we deliver on the plan.

Being value driven, and to ensure that values guide our behaviour and decision-making and how we lead and support our community is of utmost importance.

To put the right emphasis and importance on how we deliver on the Council Plan, council has created a 5th goal, and is making a commitment to deliver the goals based on the following values:

The Council has challenging times ahead with managing the Covid-19 pandemic, including economic recovery and looking after our community’s health and mental wellbeing.

We will likely have changing funding priorities from both the State and Federal Governments and continued pressure to take on services formerly run by others or to improve existing services. The financial impact and ongoing commitments associated with the Covid-19 pandemic are yet to be fully determined.

A value-based way of delivering on the Council Plan is therefore essential to ensure that we effectively serve our community in a responsible, caring and sustainable way.