Shaping Manningham's future

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Update May 2025

Our draft Council Plan, draft 2025-26 Budget, draft 10 year financial plan and the draft Revenue and Rating Plan key strategic documents were tabled at the 27 May Council Meeting.

These draft documents are now available to view in the document library on this page and will be presented for endorsement at the 30 June Council Meeting

How were the strategic plans informed?

Each of our strategic documents is informed by extensive community engagement conducted throughout 2024/25.

Manningham Community Panel

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.

Panel members committed more than 1,680 collective hours of their time over six months and heard from over 50 speakers from Council and community.

Formed in September 2024, the Manningham Community Panel has played a crucial role in helping determine the key priorities for Manningham.

The Panel provided a list of recommendations to the Deputy Mayor at its final meeting on 1 February 2025.

We carefully considered each recommendation and prepared a detailed response document – outlining how we plan to approach and implement the recommendations into action. We’re committed to implementing the Panel’s recommendations to the fullest extent possible.

The panel's thoughtful, well-informed recommendations have directly shaped the priorities and direction of our strategic plans.



Broad community consultation

Many people have helped shape our community’s future. We thank everyone who contributed. We’re all part of the plan and your voices are shaping the future of our community.

We’ve been planning for the next four years, and we’ve done it by listening closely to our community.

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

  • A community-wide survey - we heard from 1,260 community members between May and July 2024. We asked what matters most to you and which three areas you think Council should focus on.
  • Targeted Conversations - some residents joined our ‘Targeted Conversations’, a series of in-depth discussions with key groups – including young people, older adults, multicultural communities and partners. These conversations helped us better understand the needs and ideas of different people across our community.
  • Individual submissions - many of you sent in your own ideas and suggestions through individual submissions, showing us how Council services can improve and how we can build a better future together.
  • Research - we also considered other important information such as population and community forecasts, relevant government policies and strategies, expert advice from our service partners, our current plan and the resources we have available.

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.

This approach is in line with our Community Engagement Policy as required by the Local Government Act.

Questions?

Subscribe to receive project updates and be informed about community engagement opportunities.

Update May 2025

Our draft Council Plan, draft 2025-26 Budget, draft 10 year financial plan and the draft Revenue and Rating Plan key strategic documents were tabled at the 27 May Council Meeting.

These draft documents are now available to view in the document library on this page and will be presented for endorsement at the 30 June Council Meeting

How were the strategic plans informed?

Each of our strategic documents is informed by extensive community engagement conducted throughout 2024/25.

Manningham Community Panel

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.

Panel members committed more than 1,680 collective hours of their time over six months and heard from over 50 speakers from Council and community.

Formed in September 2024, the Manningham Community Panel has played a crucial role in helping determine the key priorities for Manningham.

The Panel provided a list of recommendations to the Deputy Mayor at its final meeting on 1 February 2025.

We carefully considered each recommendation and prepared a detailed response document – outlining how we plan to approach and implement the recommendations into action. We’re committed to implementing the Panel’s recommendations to the fullest extent possible.

The panel's thoughtful, well-informed recommendations have directly shaped the priorities and direction of our strategic plans.



Broad community consultation

Many people have helped shape our community’s future. We thank everyone who contributed. We’re all part of the plan and your voices are shaping the future of our community.

We’ve been planning for the next four years, and we’ve done it by listening closely to our community.

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

  • A community-wide survey - we heard from 1,260 community members between May and July 2024. We asked what matters most to you and which three areas you think Council should focus on.
  • Targeted Conversations - some residents joined our ‘Targeted Conversations’, a series of in-depth discussions with key groups – including young people, older adults, multicultural communities and partners. These conversations helped us better understand the needs and ideas of different people across our community.
  • Individual submissions - many of you sent in your own ideas and suggestions through individual submissions, showing us how Council services can improve and how we can build a better future together.
  • Research - we also considered other important information such as population and community forecasts, relevant government policies and strategies, expert advice from our service partners, our current plan and the resources we have available.

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.

This approach is in line with our Community Engagement Policy as required by the Local Government Act.

Questions?

Subscribe to receive project updates and be informed about community engagement opportunities.

  • If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways:

    Share If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways: on Facebook Share If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways: on Twitter Share If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways: on Linkedin Email If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways: link

    If you are not selected to participate in the Community Panel, you can have your say in other ways:

    Complete the Plan Manningham 2025+ survey (This consultation is now closed)

    Share your top three priority areas for Council to focus its resources on for the next four years.

    Your feedback will help the Community Panel understand the broader community's priorities and what matters to Manningham's residents.

    Survey closed Friday 12 July, 2024.

    Join one of our targeted conversations

    What are Targeted Conversations?

    They are small group discussions (2h – 20 participants) where we bring together people with similar backgrounds or interests to discuss detailed information around topics that affect their needs and priorities. The discussions will focus on challenges and priorities for these groups.

    Why Participate?

    The insights from these conversations will directly inform the work of the Community Panel. We will include the summary reports of the targeted conversations into the background information document given to the Community Panel before the deliberation begins.

    We will limit the number of participants to 20 and will use demographic filters to ensure that the groups are diverse and represent Manningham's diversity.

    Apply by filling in the Targeted Conversations survey. Applications close Tuesday 9 July 2024 at 5.00 pm.

  • It's time for us to find our new 2025 Community Panel

    Share It's time for us to find our new 2025 Community Panel on Facebook Share It's time for us to find our new 2025 Community Panel on Twitter Share It's time for us to find our new 2025 Community Panel on Linkedin Email It's time for us to find our new 2025 Community Panel link

    We're seeking a diverse group of residents, workers, students – anyone 16+ with a Manningham address to join our Community Panel.

    Community panels are an exciting new democratic approach that an increasing number of governments have adopted, to plan ahead. If you want to make a real impact on decisions made by Council, then this is your chance.

    How does this work?

    • We'll be starting the selection process with an independent company to randomly choose 8,000 addresses across Manningham.
    • If you're one of the selected addresses, you'll receive a letter in the mail inviting you to join our Deliberative Community Panel.
    • The letter will include a link and/or phone number to register your interest.
    • From everyone who expresses interest, the independent company will then randomly select a smaller group of 40 people to form the final panel.
    • This process ensures the panel represents a diverse group that reflects the voices of our entire community.

    What does the Deliberative Community Panel do?

    This panel will play a crucial role in developing our major strategic plans. Through facilitated discussions and learning sessions, the participants will help determine key priorities for Manningham and provide a list of recommendations that inform Council decisions for our key documents including the Council Plan, Asset Plan, and Financial Plan.

    We will hold several sessions with participants between September 2024 and February 2025. These will be held mainly on weekends, locally. Once the final Community Panel is selected, they will find out more about how we will all work together.

    As it will be a significant commitment involving up to 50 hours, all panelists will receive payment in recognition of their time and commitment.

    For more information check out the FAQs.

  • Plan Manningham 2025+ survey

    Share Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Facebook Share Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Twitter Share Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Linkedin Email Plan Manningham 2025+ survey link

    This consultation is now closed.

    To kick off our planning, we are asking for everyone to have their say, if you work, live, study and play in Manningham, please share with us your ideas for the future of our City.

    With your help, we develop our Council Plan every four years. This Plan outlines our priorities and actions and we publish quarterly reports for you to track our progress.

    The Plan starts with this survey, as your responses help us understand what services, activities and advocacy issues are important to our community. Please take the time to complete this survey.

    Survey closes Friday 12 July 2024

    Complete the survey (English version)

    Translations

    You can also take the survey in your own language. Find out more.

  • Translated Plan Manningham 2025+ survey

    Share Translated Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Facebook Share Translated Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Twitter Share Translated Plan Manningham 2025+ survey on Linkedin Email Translated Plan Manningham 2025+ survey link

    Did you know you can also complete the survey in other languages:

    Communicate with us through the Translating and Interpreting Service if you do not speak or understand English.

    The interpreter service will contact the relevant council area and act as a direct translator between the caller and Council.

    All interpreters are accredited with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) to ensure the highest standards of customer service available to non-English speaking customers.

Page last updated: 31 May 2025, 07:44 PM