Vision splendid of thriving metropolis

Council expected to endorse blueprint

GEELONG residents would be safe, healthy, well-educated, artistic and using alternative forms of transport under a utopic 30-year vision of life in the city.

The council’s Our Future strategy, released after almost a year in the making, details an ideal view of a clever and creative Geelong in 2047.

The $500,000-plus document declares that Geelong will be a carbon-neutral, zerowaste city that is home to more residents, more trees and an increased amount of natural habitat.

Key goals include: A LOCAL international airport, connecting to Asia and every Australian capital. CAPACITY for large ships to dock in Corio Bay. THE ability to host large conventions. A PEDESTRIAN and cycling network that covers the whole municipality. BEING able to travel to Melbourne from Geelong within 30 minutes. ALL public places providing disability access.

Geelong council’s administrators are expected to endorse the 30-year strategy at a public meeting next Tuesday.

The report has been subject to widespread consultation, with more than 16,000 people contributing their views.

The public feedback culmi- nated in an assembly in May, where 350 people favoured positioning Geelong as a clever and creative city.

Other goals include: A HIGHER workforce participation rate than the Victorian average. CRIME statistics that are 20 per cent below the state average. HALF of new housing to be built within existing urban areas. FIFTY per cent of journeys to work are made by public transport, walking or cycling.

The administrators want the key measures of the strategy to guide each new fouryear council plan.

They also want it to guide an annual budget and action plan, with a yearly review that outlines progress against the key indicators to be published.

A detailed implementation plan for the next 12 months will start the process, the council states.

Strategy and finance director Joanne Moloney warned of the threat of the blueprint being ignored by future councillors and city staff.

“Key risks include the failure of incoming councillors to ‘own’ and adopt the vision as their own, and failing to keep it alive, visible and front-ofmind,” Ms Moloney said.

The 30-year strategy was developed after a commission of inquiry into the council found the organisation lacked a long-term vision for the city.