By Kaija Du
The 2045 Hume Community Vision for “a thriving community with a strong sense of belonging” has been adopted by council.
The 2021 vision was reconsidered as Covid-19 and a growing population shifted what the community may have valued, a report to the February 10 council meeting stated.
A panel of representatives from the community also created more specific themes for the city’s vision including equality, equity, and inclusion and connection, being a well connected and well serviced, environmentally centred and a responsible and well governed city.
Councillor Karen Sherry said the vision represented community desires to find value beyond economic prosperity and into a sense of belonging, inclusion and purpose.
“They want to be thriving environmentally and socially,” she said.
An expression of interest process received 160 responses, of which 47 members were chosen that aligned with the demographics of Hume. The vision, made for and by community, seeks to inform council plans for the next four years and continue to guide decisions beyond that, Cr Sherry said.
“[The panel representatives] expressed how important this vision was to them and they placed a lot of energy and effort into developing it,” Cr Sherry said.
Cr Carly Moore noted that, in her experience, the interest and feedback from community in something council has put forward is unprecedented.
Growth in population which has already occurred and is forecasted to almost double in the next 20 years, is a particular important change that the vision had to consider, according to Cr Moore.
“Our city is definitely barrelling down a highway right in front of us and [rising populations] is definitely something to think about” mayor Jarrod Bell said.
