People playing in the park

Council Plan 2021-25

Change Today, Shape Tomorrow

Our community set a vision in 2009 for Greater Dandenong to be a safe and vibrant city of opportunity for all to visit, work, live and play. This vision is being reviewed in 2021 by a community panel who will create a revised vision for 2040. The City of Greater Dandenong is also preparing to develop its next Council Plan 2021-25 and for the first time, our Community Wellbeing Plan will be part of our four-year Council Plan.

The Council Plan sets the direction for the next four years for Council activity, including our work with partners, and is key to achieving our long-term vision. We want to ensure our Council Plan 2021-25 reflects what matters most to our community.

To find out more about the project objectives and timelines read the Engagement Plan - 771.87KB

Two phases of community engagement were planned as part of this project. The first phase which included broad community engagement was completed in February 2021. The second phase which involves the deliberation of a community panel commenced in April 2021. Further information on both phases can be found below.

New Community Vision and Principles

The Greater Dandenong People's Panel spent three and a half days deliberating on a new community vision and principles for the City of Greater Dandenong in 2040. They reviewed community engagement outcomes, heard from guest speakers and discussed current and future challenges for our city. The final vision created by the panel reflects the aspirations of our city and the principles outline what we should focus on to achieve this.

Our community's vision for 2040 is:

The City of Greater Dandenong is a home to all. It's a city where you can enjoy
and embrace life through celebration and equal opportunity!

We harmonise the community by valuing multiculturalism and the individual.
Our community is healthy, vibrant, innovative and creative.

Our growing city is committed to environmental sustainability.
Welcome to our exciting and peaceful community

The principles aligned with this vision can be found in the report Greater Dandenong People's Panel Outcomes - 1.10MB

Wide Community Engagement Phase

From November 2020 until February 2021 our community participated in a number of activities:

Community survey - 107 community members completed our online and hard copy survey
Online ideas wall - over 40 ideas were posted on social pinpoint
Pop-Up Events - nearly 600 ideas were shared across seven events in Dandenong, Springvale, Noble Park and Keysborough South
Children's Worksheets - over 70 children shared their ideas and priorities for our city through worksheets and drawings.

Community Engagement Summary Report

A number of key themes and priorities were highlighted throughout this consultation and the top five areas of importance were identified as:

Health and active living
Diversity and inclusion
Attractive and vibrant city
Sustainable initiatives and development
Natural environment

The full results of this consultation can be found in the Community Engagement Summary Report

Community Survey Prize Winners

As part of this consultation 10 x $50 Dandenong Market vouchers were offered as prizes to people completing the community survey. The following winners were selected randomly from participants:

F Abdul
T Nowak
Z Mohl
H Louis
A Valsan
E Vincent
N Jones
R Pang
M Abdulahi
F Lu

Deliberative Engagement Phase - Community Panel

The second phase of the community consultation is a deliberative process which focuses on the formation of a Greater Dandenong People's Panel. 8,000 invitations were sent to randomly selected residents and businesses across Greater Dandenong and anyone in the household or business who received the invite was able to register. 40 people were then selected from those who registered their interest to create a panel which is representative of the Greater Dandenong community in regards to age, gender, country of birth, and household type.

The panel commenced on 15 April and will meet over the course of two months to discuss the community vision and how Council can meet the community's diverse needs. They will provide recommendations to Council which will influence the community vision; Council’s priorities for the next four years, including public health and wellbeing priorities; and services, projects and facilities for the community. The outcomes of the Panel will be shared publicly in June.

Key Dates

Community Conversations

November 2020 - February 2021

Greater Dandenong People's Panel

April - May 2021

Development of the Council Plan

June - October 2021