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.

Residents going above and beyond to make Manningham a better place have been recognised at our inaugural Manningham Community Awards.

The winners and the 2025 Citizen of the Year were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by the Mayor, Cr Deirdre Diamante, on Wednesday 16 September at the Manningham Function Centre.

The expanded awards program recognises the outstanding achievements of individuals and groups over the past 12 months.

The Manningham Community Awards are a chance to celebrate the people and groups who make Manningham shine,” Cr Diamante said.

“Congratulations to all the winners and finalists. Your commitment, passion and care for others reflects the very best of who we are.”

Leon Moore has been named the 2025 Manningham Citizen of the Year and won the Doreen Stoves Excellence in Volunteering Award for his work in establishing and leading the Laughing All Abilities Really Friendly Singers (LAARFS). 

The choir, which meets weekly, has more than 70 members, who live with chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer and dementia.

Category winners:

Active Community

Bulleen Tennis Club

Under the committee’s leadership, the club’s facilities have been transformed with upgrades including court resurfacing and new lighting. Membership has grown by more than 70% with expanded junior and senior competitions, veterans’ tennis and social play.

Ageing Well

Chinese Senior Citizens Club of Manningham Inc.

With more than 1000 members and 200 volunteers, the club is one of the largest in Manningham. It has delivered more than 60 free weekly classes, as well as educational talks, performances and major cultural celebrations over the past year.

Artistic Achievement

Warrandyte Arts Association

The association has supported more than 170 members across several groups including life drawing, pottery, writing and theatre. 

Community Excellence Award

Warrandyte Pink Ladies

The group was recognised for their passionate efforts in raising funds, awareness and support for those affected by breast cancer – all while bringing some of their signature sparkle to the community.

Community Health and Wellbeing

Men’s Shed at the Veneto Club

The group has created a welcoming and supportive space for men of all ages and backgrounds to connect, share and support one another, and improve men’s mental health. 

Inclusive Community

Kevin Heinze Grow

The organisation’s inclusive, nature-based programs support people of all abilities. These include Café Kevin, which provides hospitality training, and the Grow Program that offers experience in gardening, cooking and sustainability.

Young Achiever

Niosha Khademideljou

Former Manningham Youth Advisory Committee member, Niosha is now a crisis supporter with Lifeline Naarm, and has helped provide children’s spiritual education classes and inclusive school holiday festivals.

This year’s awards were the first of an expanded program designed to recognise even more of the work being done in our community.

Cr Diamante said, “We received an incredible 70 nominations, making the judging no easy task.

“There were so many inspiring stories – so many individuals and groups going above and beyond.

Keep an eye out as we share more about our winners in the coming months.

“We can’t wait to learn about more of the incredible people and groups who contribute to the Manningham community. We encourage you to nominate someone you know who is doing amazing things for the 2026 awards. Nominations will open in March 2026,” Cr Diamante said.

Find out more about the Manningham Community Awards.

At the 27 May Council Meeting the draft Council Plan, draft 2025-26 Budget, draft 10 year financial plan and the draft Revenue and Rating Plan were tabled.  These have been developed in line with our newly endorsed Community Vision 2040 to help shape the future of Manningham.

These draft strategic documents are now available on Your Say Manningham website and will be presented for endorsement at the 30 June Council Meeting.

Our draft Asset Plan 2025-2035 and the Council Plan Action Plan will be made available at an upcoming Council meeting.

Our strategic documents are informed by extensive community engagement conducted throughout 2024-25.  

Many people have helped shape our community’s future. We’ve been planning for the next four years, and we’ve done it by listening closely to our community.

At the heart of this work was the deliberative community panel – a collaborative effort that brought together 37 community members to play a crucial role in helping determine key priorities for Manningham.

Extensive community consultation informed both our strategic planning and the Community Panel’s deliberations, ensuring that our plans are grounded in our community's priorities, needs and aspirations.

This consultation included a community-wide survey last year where we heard from 1,260 community members about what matters most to you and which three areas you think Council should focus on. We also held a series of targeted conversations with key groups and residents including young people, older adults, multicultural communities and partners.

On top of that, many community members sent in their own ideas and suggestions through individual submissions, showing us how Council services can improve and how we can build a better future together.

These community insights gave us a strong and balanced view of our community's wants and needs. It directly shaped our strategic planning and the work of our Community Panel.

Given the depth and quality of feedback received during this process, a separate public submission process will not be held for this year’s strategic plans.

We thank everyone who contributed. We’re all part of the plan and your voices are shaping the future of our community.

Find out more by visiting our Your Say Manningham website.

We have installed mini recycling stations at some locations around Manningham to make it easier to recycle common household items that you cannot put into your bins.

When these items - like small e-waste, batteries, globes and ink cartridges - reach the end of their life they can be harmful to the environment if they are sent to landfill. Our processor is able to recycle between 93 and 98 per cent of these products.

On this page:

• What can be recycled at these stations?

• How to place items inside the slot?

• Where are they located?

• How are the items recycled?

Place items loosely into their relevant slot during opening hours of their locations. 

We’re seeking feedback on our draft Road Safety Strategy 2025-2035, which identifies road improvements, targeted education and speed zone reviews as our key priorities. 

The draft strategy outlines clear objectives and a detailed action plan to enhance road safety and reduce traffic-related accidents, injuries and fatalities

Our Mayor, Councillor Deirdre Diamante, said this strategy will guide proactive projects and programs over the next decade.

“We’re committed to improving our transport system as we strive for ‘Vision Zero’— where nobody is seriously injured or killed on our roads,” said Cr Diamante. 

“To plan for safer roads, we first needed to understand the local issues and experiences of road users in Manningham.

“We received more than 200 responses to last year’s community survey, which told us what matters most to our community.

“Now we want to ensure the proposed strategy and action plan accurately reflects community priorities,” she said.

Key proposed actions include:

• road safety audits in high-risk areas
• infrastructure upgrades
• speed limit reviews
• continual road user education
• updates to the Manningham Walking and Cycling Strategy

The draft strategy was informed by feedback from last year’s community consultation, local road safety data, input from road safety partners and aligns with State and Federal strategies.
 

Have Your Say

Provide feedback by completing our survey on the draft Road Safety Strategy 2025-2035 via Your Say Manningham by 21 February 2025. 

Feedback from the community and Councillors will shape the final version of the strategy, which will be presented for Council endorsement in early 2025.