Vision for the future

By Dion Teasdale
YARRA Glen’s Vision and Values project is forging ahead with a community survey to be launched later this month.
The survey, which aims to identify and prioritise the values of the community, follows a successful round of community forums in December.
Vision and Values project coordinator Hannah Sky said she was pleased with the response to the forums held last month.
“There was excellent discussion about a wide range of community issues and there was a great deal of commonality,” she said. “A lot of ideas centred around improving our connectedness and our ability to walk around our community and enjoy it.”
Ms Sky said discussion at the forums placed a lot of value on the town’s natural environment and its assets such as the railway station and its proximity to the Yarra River.
Ms Sky said the survey, which will be completed by mid-February, will be available on-line at www.yarraglen.com and hard copies will also be available from the town’s post office and news agency. “We are in the process of negotiating with businesses in town to set up computers in their offices so people who can’t go on-line at home can do so in town,” Ms Sky said.
“We are also running a competition with the primary school to see which class can get the most adults to complete the survey on-line.”
Ms Sky said the survey would provide people with the opportunity to submit new ideas to prioritise the ideas that have already been put forward.
“Once the survey is completed we’ll go into a report-writing process and will hold a community governance forum to discuss establishing a formal township group. The aim is to then launch the survey report and elect a township group in early April.”
To find out more about the project, contact Hannah Sky on 0409 564 262.