As a resident of the southern metropolitan region, I was pleased to be one of over 200 community members at the Southern Metropolitan Partnership 2017 Annual Assembly in Frankston last night. Community members had the opportunity to have their say on priority areas for the region. The assembly was held at the Frankston Performing Arts Centre and offered a chance for open and honest discussions for all participants with each other and government representatives including the Minister for Suburban Development, Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, the Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings and the Attorney General Martin Pakula.
The evening was innovative, engaging and enlightening and provided an important forum for the local community to help shape key priorities for the region and to consult on prior work produced by the Southern Metropolitan Partnership chaired by Dr Elizabeth Deveney and facilitated by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
Important issues, underlined robust discussions:
- What are the biggest challenges and priorities for the Southern Region?
- What suburbs/areas of the Southern Region experience the most challenges?
- How can government, business and community work together to achieve these priorities?
The Victorian Government will report back to attendees and the broader community with the findings and how they may influence government decisions.
The assembly was preceded by a call for online input from the community. Priority themes included; housing, transport, employment, infrastructure and investment, and the environment. Topics discussed at the assembly were rated by participants on a 1-5 scale of significance, providing quantitative data for the organisers to plan next steps.
The Southern Metropolitan Partnership covers the local government areas of: Kingston, Frankston, Mornington, Greater Dandenong, Cardinia and Casey.
The results will be published in December here or email southern.partnership@delwp.vic.gov.au