I hope you and your families are adjusting to the change to colder weather and also to the latest restrictions which are a challenge to us all once again.

With another lockdown upon us, now is the time to look out for one another. Remember to reach out to your neighbours, check in on family and friends and support our local businesses.

We are here to support you during this time and although our customer service centres are currently closed, we are contactable via phone and live chat via our website.

In other news, I am pleased to announce the outcomes of our Community Panel which we formed earlier this year. The Panel worked together to create a new Community Vision which Council has endorsed, in addition to 12 recommendations they made.

The Community Panel worked hard to better understand the business of Council and the needs of our community – and so to have their recommendations incorporated into our strategic planning and vision for the future is something of which they should be very proud.

Our new Community Vision is:

“Manningham is a peaceful, inclusive and safe community. We celebrate life with its diverse culture, wildlife and natural environment.  We are resilient and value sustainable and healthy living, a sense of belonging, and respect for one another."

This Community Vision will be incorporated into our strategic documents, which are now being developed. Our Annual Budget for 2021/22 is now being finalised and along with our Revenue and Rating Plan will shortly be presented to Council for adoption. Stay up to date on the development of all our strategic documents.

I’m also excited to announce that we are involved in a ground-breaking project to reduce our current energy bills by using clean renewable energy generated right here in Victoria. We are one of 46 Victorian Councils to sign up to the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO), the largest ever emissions reduction project by local government in Australia.

We recognise that we are in a state of climate emergency and that together, we must take action. Through the collective buying of renewable energy we will help investment in renewables in Victoria, reducing emissions and reducing retail energy prices. Find out more about this project here.

Stay well,