Tara Murray
A Whittlesea council planner has been recognised and the council has been hailed for its netball and basketball strategy at the recent Parks and Leisure Australia awards for Victorian and Tasmania.
The council’s netball and basketball strategy won the Strategic Planning Award, while Stephanie Ristevska was awarded the David Aldous Young Professional of the Year award.
Ms Ristevska said it had been a pleasant surprise to take out the young professional award.
“The Vic/Tas Parks and Leisure Australia awards are a big honour in our industry and it’s been a very exciting yet humbling experience for me to be recognised like this.
“It’s a very proud moment for me and a definite career highlight to date.”
Ms Ristevska entered the planning industry through her love of sports and exercise and quickly found it went hand and hand with planning.
“It was only through my experience with sports clubs and community groups early on in my career that I realised we were all working towards similar goals but were often on different paths to get there.
“I remember thinking about how a joint approach could achieve so much more and that’s where my interest in planning began.”
Ms Ristevska said the best part of her job was creating plans to support people to start new activities or to keep doing the things they enjoy.
“At the moment, I’m enjoying planning for new facilities or upgrades because it’s really rewarding to see projects come to life.”
Ms Ristevska said the netball and basketball plan was the first step in addressing the major shortage of sports courts across Whittlesea.
Implementation of the strategy will result in more than 60 new courts constructed over the next 20 years.
“It highlighted some real challenges for current players and provides a strong platform now to address those and guide the future construction of courts so our community can play sport and stay active locally again,” she said.
“I think the plan is extra special as it was created in partnership with clubs and associations (who informed the early stages of the project) and Netball and Basketball Victoria; to make sure we’re all working together and towards the same goal.”
Both the council and Ms Ristevska will be considered for the national Parks and Leisure Australia Awards.
