State in play
IT’S time to accelerate Geelong.
Last week we hosted a delegation from Coffs Harbour City Council who were keen to learn about Geelong’s revitalisation of the city centre and how we approached local government matters.
It’s always a good sign when other councils look to you for learnings and I can say the Coffs Harbour councillors and staff were genuinely surprised and impressed with how we do things in Geelong.
Coffs Harbour is a city that is also in transition and they were interested to see the work under way to shape our arts and culture precinct, our waterfront area and the revitalisation of our CBD. It was unanimously agreed this is something you cannot share over the phone or Google. You have to experience it.
One thing we do well here in Geelong, according to Coffs Harbour City Council, is the high level of engagement we have with the community on all of our projects and issues.
Engagement with the community is certainly an important focus for us and we’re continually seeking to improve what we do. I know the city’s officers regularly review their work in this space, so if you have suggestions on how we can better listen to you, please let us know.
Our engagement was on full show at last week’s community council meeting, where I was pleased to see another full room of community members keen to share their points of view and ask us questions. One lady was so unimpressed with her commute from Geelong to Melbourne that day, she said she had to come to the meeting and ask us what we can do about it. This is exactly what these meetings aim to do!
Which brings me to transport and a number of other priorities we’re focusing on at the moment.
It’s less than 100 days to the state election. Now is the time to accelerate our push to see more commitments on the table to deliver the infrastructure Geelong desperately needs:
TRANSPORT
We’re feeling the pressures of connectivity between Geelong and Melbourne and we all know the issues with V/ Line and our roads. We’re working hard in relation to future solutions and anticipate some positive announcements in the near future, especially in relation to fast rail options. This is in addition to the recent commitment by State Government to duplicate the track, remove level crossings and upgrade South Geelong and Marshall stations. A new rail link from Marshall station to Armstrong Creek will be welcomed by our growing communities there.
BARWON HEADS RD DUPLICATION
With the continued growth in Armstrong Creek, the Barwon Heads Rd duplication can no longer be ignored. We look forward to seeing VicRoads’ revised designs based on stakeholder and community feedback into the best way forward for this and some dollars from state government to make it happen.
CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE
Meanwhile, there are business conferences happening all around us and without a conference centre we’re just not in the game in the way we could be. Business events generate over $10 billion in direct expenditure for Victoria and more than 70,000 jobs. Imagine where we could take that with our own convention and exhibition centre. We could further open Geelong to the nation and the world.
NORTHERN ARC
Last week I expressed my concerns over lack of state and federal funding for the Northern ARC Health and Wellbeing Hub. Our northern suburbs are being short-changed with the lack of health facilities in the area and we must do everything we can to ensure there is access to health and wellbeing services. We’ve committed more than $20 million of community money to this project, such is the importance for the city. But we can’t do it alone.
CIVIC ACCOMMODATION
The civic accommodation project is moving rapidly with strong community support for consolidation of our central offices. There are many opportunities with this project including a possible link with a ComCare relocation and a GovHub office. It also provides the Geelong Gallery with opportunity to extend into some areas of City Hall, but this will also require state government funding. A strong Geelong means a strong Victoria, so as the saying goes, show us the (our) money!