A safe and secure home is the foundation for a healthy life, education, and connection to community. Right now we are seeing more people in Manningham facing housing stress and homelessness.

National Homelessness Week runs from 4 to 10 August and is an opportunity to raise awareness of the practical steps to address homelessness in our community.

Homelessness doesn’t discriminate — it can affect anyone. Rising housing costs mean some people are forced to choose between rent and food. We're also seeing a growing need for food relief and emergency support services locally.

If you or someone you know needs help, our Manningham Wellbeing Support Card connects you with local services that can provide support. Hard copies of these are available at community venues including Council facilities, libraries community centres, neighbourhood houses, sporting and social clubs.

Let’s work together to make our community a place where everyone has a home.

Our website provides an online resource directory of local crisis support services, including homelessness and crisis accommodation, emergency food relief, family violence support and wellbeing services.

This National Homelessness Week, we’re joining other councils and community organisations to highlight how we’re working together to support people doing it tough.

Want to learn more? Join us for the webinar More than Shelter on Thursday 7 August at 12:30pm, where we’ll explore the support services that offer safety and dignity to people experiencing homelessness.

Register now

The Manningham Community Panel has reached a significant milestone, charting a course for the future after delivering its final recommendations to Council.

Manningham Mayor Councillor Deirdre Diamante said the Panel’s insights will be invaluable in ensuring that the Council’s strategic plans are grounded in the community's needs and aspirations. 

“By listening to the voices of our community, we’re ensuring that our decisions and actions reflect and align with what matters most to our residents,” Cr Diamante said.   

 

“The Panel has played a crucial role in this process, comprising members from diverse age groups, cultural backgrounds and geographic locations that represent the unique tapestry of our community. 

 

“This collaborative approach will help enable us to create a more inclusive, resilient, sustainable and vibrant community for all.”

The Panel was established to identify Manningham's key priorities, challenges and opportunities – to help guide the Council’s strategic plans. This includes the Community Vision 2040, the four-year Council Plan, and the 10-year Asset and Financial Plans.

Throughout the process, Panel members deliberated for approximately 1,680 collective hours and heard from over 50 speakers from Council and community. 

They handed over their recommendations to Council at the final meeting on 1 February 2025. They span several themes including community safety, transport, open spaces and more. 

“Over the coming weeks, we’ll prepare a response to each of the panel’s recommendations, including how they will be implemented or the reasons for not supporting any recommendation,” Cr Diamante said. 

 

“We’re sincerely grateful to the panel members for their time and efforts during this dynamic process and committed to implementing the panel’s recommendations to the fullest extent possible. We’ll ensure their insights are carefully considered in all our decision-making as we plan ahead for Manningham,” the Mayor added.

For further information and stay up to date, visit yoursay.manningham.vic.gov.au/help-shape-manninghams-future

Each year we check in with our residents to see how we're doing. We want to understand your views on what living in Manningham is like. The way we do this is through an independently conducted community satisfaction survey.

For these surveys, we reach out by phone to 400 of our residents. The results of the phone conversations are then analysed, reported back to us, and discussed internally. 

This helps us to learn more about our performance across several areas. It also helps us to understand where changes and improvements are necessary. 

You can find out how we are doing by reading the report below.

You’re invited to share your ideas and priorities for our community’s future by making an ‘Individual submission’ to the Manningham Community Panel.

Make an individual submission.

Your input will be considered by the Panel as they deliberate and prepare recommendations for Council’s major strategic plans.

What will the panel deliberate on?

Council endorsed the following remit for the Manningham Community Panel at its 25 June 2024 meeting.

Council has a budget of $147m, but we can’t do everything and need to make hard choices. We need to know what services you value most to help us create a new Council Plan, Asset Plan and Financial Plan to guide Council activity for the next four years to align with the Community Vision. It will inform what the community pays and gets in return.

What range and level of services are you prepared to pay for?

Submit your ideas about what the panel should consider as they work together to answer this question.

This consultation closes Thursday 19 September at 11.59pm.

Community will also be welcome to observe the deliberative process at several open Panel sessions – more information will be available on the Your Say Manningham page shortly.

We’re looking for people from the Manningham community to join our Community Grants Program Assessment Panel.

The panel will help assess the applications received as part of our Community Grants Program, and:

• help ensure broad and diverse community representation in the community grants make sure there’s a shared understanding of community development
• principles align the allocation of funding with Council strategies and provide advice based on program guidelines and other key priorities.

There are three positions available on the panel for community representatives, who will be joined by at least two Council officers.

Each community panel representative will receive a payment of up to $500 (per year) for their participation.
 

Who can apply

• Applications are open to people who live, work or study in Manningham. 
• We are looking for people who have expertise, knowledge, skills and/or lived experience relevant to community grants and/or development in Manningham. 
• We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds.

Access support is available, and members can attend remotely if required, but face-to-face is preferable.

We’re making the Doncaster Hill Community Garden safer, more accessible and even better for our community to enjoy.

The garden will be temporarily closed from June to August 2025 while we make these upgrades. 

Redesign goals

• The new garden will deliver:
• A safer and more accessible design: A new level surface will remove tripping hazards while raised garden beds at varying heights will suit all ages and abilities.
• Increased food production and sustainability: New wicking beds, better composting and water management aim to boost vegetable yields.
• Better protection against theft: Trellising, soft fencing and access via a gate will enhance security. We are also installing lockable compost bins to reduce damage.
• A more inviting community space: More seating and improved diverse language signage will encourage greater community involvement and learning.

Shaped by feedback from our gardeners and volunteers, the transformation will model what a thriving urban space can achieve.

Feeding those in need

The garden is a space for community members to grow food, meet others and learn new skills.

Community members meet every fortnight where they plant, sow seeds, weed, water and harvestfresh produce. All food is donated to Doncare’s food relief program, providing fresh produce to those in need.

The community garden plays a vital role in strengthening the local food system, fostering social connections and supporting our community’s wellbeing. 

 

Manningham Council would like to inform residents that from Tuesday 28 January 2025 through to mid March, your household may receive a call from an independent market research agency, National Field Services. They have been commissioned to conduct our 2025 Community Satisfaction Survey on behalf of the council. Please be assured that your details and individual responses are confidential.

The Community satisfaction survey is a yearly requirement. For these surveys, the market agency reaches out by phone to 400 randomly selected residents. The results of the phone conversations are then analysed, reported back to us, and discussed internally. 

This helps us to learn more about our performance across several areas. It also helps us to understand where changes and improvements are necessary.

Read more about last year’s community satisfaction survey.

North East Link Project (NELP) has released designs for the redevelopment of the Doncaster Park and Ride, which you can now provide feedback on and have your say. 

The designs are within a draft Urban Design and Landscape Plan (UDLP), which shows that the Doncaster Park and Ride will connect to a new dedicated busway along the Eastern Freeway, known as the Eastern Busway. 

The plan is to construct the facility into a modern version of its existing state (like-for-like), resulting in the Park and Ride being retained as a car park and bus interchange only, with a similar number of car parking spaces. The draft UDLP is currently on exhibition for public comment.

Council will be providing a submission in response to the UDLP to propose that the current plan is a missed opportunity to reconstruct the Doncaster Park and Ride as a mixed-use Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). 

While the facility being redeveloped into a modern interchange is positive, this is a key opportunity for TOD, which could provide wide-ranging benefits to the community, environment and local economy.

We will be advocating that there is a growing demand for park and ride facilities due to population growth and the lack of any rail infrastructure in Manningham. This is shown through the high-usage of the newly opened Bulleen Park and Ride which consistently operates at capacity, and reinforces the significant opportunity this Doncaster Park and Ride site offers for our community.

As such, our submission seeks to include a multi-level car park with increased capacity, new open spaces areas, as well as retail and other commercial opportunities. This is in-line with our commissioned 2022 site design concept which was endorsed on 26 July 2022 as Council’s preferred redevelopment outcome for the Doncaster Park and Ride site.

We ask you to join us in advocating that Doncaster Park and Ride be reconstructed to include: 

• mixed-use transit-oriented development
• increase in carpark spaces, or
• flexibility to address population growth and allow for mixed-use development in future. 

Have your say

Help shape the Doncaster Park and Ride. You can provide feedback while the UDLP is on exhibition until 5.00pm Tuesday 24 September 2024.

To find out more, or to make a submission, head to Engage Victoria.

What’s next?

Council will be considering its submission on the Doncaster Park and Ride UDLP at its meeting on Tuesday 16 September. Following this, the submission will be lodged on behalf of Council to Engage Victoria. 

NELP will consider all written comments and submissions received, before the final UDLP is submitted to the Minister for Planning for consideration.

You can read more on the Big Build website and sign up to receive email updates.

The Manningham Community Panel’s deliberations have begun, with local voices steering the way to a thriving future for Manningham.

Through a series of externally facilitated discussions and learning sessions, panel members will deliberate for over 40 hours. They will determine key priorities for the community and provide a list of recommendations to Manningham Council.

This dynamic and community-driven process will play a crucial role in ensuring that Council’s strategic plans reflect local needs, values and aspirations.

The panel recruitment started with 8,000 envelopes sent randomly to local households. Of those who accepted the invitation, a second random draw resulted in the final 40 individuals chosen.

This second draw was stratified to ensure people selected were representative of Manningham by age, gender, location, living situation and the language spoken at home.

Residents, businesses and community organisations have also contributed to the panel’s work in several ways.

In the Plan Manningham 2025+ survey (between May and July 2024), community provided their top three priority areas for Council to focus its resources for the next four years.

Council also hosted a series of ‘Targeted conversations’. These small group discussions invited people with similar backgrounds or interests together to discuss detailed information around topics that affect their needs and priorities.

Community could also share ideas on how to improve Council services through ‘Individual submissions’.

Council has committed to an open, transparent and rigorous process that puts community interests at the forefront. Community are invited to listen and watch the deliberations.

You can register to be an Observer for any of the panel sessions. Each registration segment is 90 minutes. Registration will ensure you get a spot, however you can also register upon arrival.

The final four panel sessions will be held between November 2024 and February 2025.

Find out more and stay up to date at Your Say Manningham.

We have signed the contract to purchase 576-578 Park Road, Park Orchards as part of its planning for a new Park Orchards Community House and Learning Centre.

A priority action in our Community Infrastructure Plan, discussions and advocacy have already commenced for the replacement of this popular neighbourhood house and it is hoped that this significant investment will be the catalyst for investment from other levels of government.

Our Mayor, Deirdre Diamante, said the existing community house needs replacing to bring programs and services together.

"The Community House is widely used and offers a variety of programs and services in learning, fitness and art for all ages, and includes a well-loved childcare facility.

“The current building is coming to the end of its useful life, has limited accessibility and is too small to cater to all programs. These limitations have resulted in programs moving to different locations and spread across multiple local venues.

“By bringing these programs together into one building with better access and more space, we can improve efficiency and better support the community’s growing needs.”

The location of the new property, adjacent to the existing Community House at 572 Park Road, will allow for more space for the variety of programs on offer.

“Located in the heart of Park Orchards, as part of a community and education precinct and near public bus transport, the site will maintain convenient access to childcare, schools, recreational areas, and shops.” Cr Diamante added.

The purchase of 576-578 Park Road is part of our long-term planning to replace this important neighbourhood house for Park Orchards.

Neighbourhood houses are predominantly funded by government grants and additional state and commonwealth government funding will be needed to deliver this new community facility.

“We have purchased this property as part of our long-term plan for the community house and local area. We’re pleased to be able to secure a site for a new centre in Park Orchards and will continue to advocate for State and Federal funding to deliver it.”

The purchase was funded by our Strategic Fund which is part of our 10 Year Financial Plan 2024/25 to 2033/34.

For more information, visit Your Say Manningham.

Pick up a copy of our 2025 Community Calendar from the Manningham Civic Centre, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster, while stocks last. 

Unable to pick up a copy? 

We're committed to being a financially and environmentally sustainable council. 

We will only be mailing calendars to those experiencing circumstances that prevent them from travelling to a pick up location.

If you are unable to collect a copy, contact us.

The Manningham Community Panel has reached a significant milestone, charting a course for the future after delivering its final recommendations to Council.

Manningham Mayor Councillor Deirdre Diamante said the Panel’s insights will be invaluable in ensuring that the Council’s strategic plans are grounded in the community's needs and aspirations.

“By listening to the voices of our community, we’re ensuring that our decisions and actions reflect and align with what matters most to our residents,” Cr Diamante said.  

“The Panel has played a crucial role in this process, comprising members from diverse age groups, cultural backgrounds and geographic locations that represent the unique tapestry of our community.

“This collaborative approach will help enable us to create a more inclusive, resilient, sustainable and vibrant community for all.”

The Panel was established to identify Manningham's key priorities, challenges and opportunities – to help guide our strategic plans. This includes the Community Vision 2040, the four-year Council Plan, and the 10-year Asset and Financial Plans.

Throughout the process, Panel members deliberated for approximately 1,680 collective hours and heard from over 50 speakers from Council and community.

They handed over their recommendations at the final meeting on 1 February 2025. They span several themes including community safety, transport, open spaces and more.

“Over the coming weeks, we’ll prepare a response to each of the panel’s recommendations, including how they will be implemented or the reasons for not supporting any recommendation,” Cr Diamante said.

“We’re sincerely grateful to the panel members for their time and efforts during this dynamic process and committed to implementing the panel’s recommendations to the fullest extent possible. We’ll ensure their insights are carefully considered in all our decision-making as we plan ahead for Manningham,” the Mayor added.

For further information and stay up to date, visit YourSay Manningham.