Ipswich City Council has drafted a new 20-year community vision and corporate plan (2021-2026) and is now seeking feedback from residents.
The draft has been titled iFuture: Your Vision, Our Journey, Council’s Plan.
The public consultation period is open from 1 to 28 February, 2021.
Mayor Teresa Harding said she and fellow councillors, approaching one year in council, have been excited to see how the community has engaged on the vision for the city in 2041 and council’s plan for the next five years.
“While we have been faced with unprecedented times as a result of COVID-19 our community has stood up and had their say on what we need as a city both now and for generations to come,” Mayor Harding said.
“Council’s corporate plan sets out the strategic outcomes we want to see in 2026 that will set us up to play our part in achieving the community’s vision.
“We are now seeking the community’s feedback on the draft corporate plan before it gets finalised and presented to council for consideration – you spoke, we listened, and now are checking in with you: have we got it right?
“The plan will commence on 1 July 2021 and signifies a huge milestone not only for us as new councillors but the city with the realisation of major city shaping projects and advocacy.”
CEO David Farmer said the development of a vision for the city and a new corporate plan provides a true north for staff to ensure council is planning and responding appropriately for the growth, challenges and opportunities that will come over the next two decades.
“The plan provides clear guidance on where we are now, where we want to be in five years’ time, how we are going to get there and how we will measure our progress,” Mr Farmer said.
“The plan will allow us to design our operations annually while we continue our journey to be leading practice in local government.
“Community involvement in our strategic direction has been fantastic on the development of the plan and we look forward to feedback in the final stage of consultation during February.”
Facts:
- A community vision is an agreement of what everyone wants the community to look like in the future. It is a shared commitment between everyone who lives, works, and plays in the community.
- The corporate plan is a roadmap of what council will work towards over the next five years (2021 – 2026). It is council’s contribution towards achieving the vision in its first five years. It is the leading strategic plan that will guide council operations for the next five years. All local governments in Queensland are required to have a five year corporate plan in place.
- The content of iFuture is based on what the community told council matters to them, and they want the future of Ipswich to look and feel like.
- This was achieved through a city-wide engagement program, which ran throughout 2020. At this time, council engaged directly with 1,192 community members and informed at least 12,330 people of the plan.
- Council engaged with community through a variety of methods including telephone conversations, various digital tools, futures visioning workshops (online and face-to-face), reference group meetings, school surveys and a creative arts competition.
- iFuture is also based on past community feedback and engagement with the mayor, councillors, council’s executive leaders and specialist staff within council. About 425 council staff were directly engaged in developing the plan.
Everything you need to know about the project, and how to have your say/get involved throughout February 2021, is located at Shape Your Ipswich https://shapeyouripswich.com.au/corporate-plan-2021-2026
There are a number of different ways to have your say, both online and in person. In person methods depend on the COVID public health advice at the time.
Council wants to hear from all members of the community. You don’t need to be an expert to get involved.
So get in now. Let us know if we got the vision and themes right and how can we improve on them.
