City hits ground running with social consultations
The City of Stirling has hit the ground running in the new financial year with a suite of consultation processes designed to seek community feedback on some of the most important social issues facing our community.
Mayor Mark Irwin said the City’s focus on social issues in the new financial year was driven by new strategic objectives and a vision to be ‘a sustainable City with a local focus’.
“As part of our recent major review of the City’s Strategic Community Plan, we actively engaged more than 2,000 people in an innovative and comprehensive community consultation process that offered a range of opportunities for the community to shape the City’s future activities,” he said.
“It therefore makes sense that our planning around strengthening the social fabric of our community would be built in the same fashion, by putting community at the centre of our social strategies.
“We are committed to engaging with residents and ratepayers to enhance local areas so that we understand their needs and support their participation in the decision-making process.”
The City’s new Strategic Community Plan titled ‘Sustainable Stirling 2022-2032’ includes a community-based key result area that sets out the objectives of being an inclusive and harmonious City, an active and healthy City as well as a safer City, which these activities are designed to help achieve.
Libraries Strategy
The City's six public libraries are strategically co-located with community facilities or adjacent to commercial activity centres. Community history services are delivered via the Stirling History Collection, which incorporates the Mount Flora Regional Museum.
The draft Stirling Libraries Strategy 2022-2027 incorporates global public library trends and best practice, as well as place-based community development principles. The strategy will guide library service delivery models, workforce planning, and critical decision-making on the future of library infrastructure development.
The strategy concentrates on three strategic community-focused areas:
- creatively connecting people, information and knowledge
- libraries recognised as valued places and place-makers with community-led design
- curation of a diverse cultural offer which celebrates the history of the City of Stirling.
The City is seeking community feedback on the draft Stirling Libraries Strategy, and your thoughts about the future of the City’s six public libraries, community history services, and the Mount Flora Regional Museum. The final Stirling Libraries Strategy will then be submitted to Council for endorsement in September 2022.
Homelessness Strategy review
The City’s first Homelessness Strategy was developed in 2020 and modelled around the State Government’s 10 Year Strategy: All Paths Lead to Home.
Homelessness is a complex issue that is increasingly prevalent within our local community, and everyone has a role to play. The role of local government as outlined in the WA Government’s strategy entails:
- Prevention and early intervention
- Engagement, information and support
- Capacity building for the sector and community.
The City’s Homelessness Strategy 2020-2022 is due for review and the City is seeking feedback to ensure our approach is appropriate with a continued focus making information on local services and supports accessible to people experiencing homelessness while also advocating for further action from the State Government.
Age Friendly Strategy review
The City is conducting a review of its Age Friendly Strategy 2017-2022 to ensure we continue to meet the growing needs of an ageing population.
Planning for an age-friendly City is one of the most effective ways to meet the needs of older residents and delivers benefits to the whole community. An age-friendly City does not just benefit older people, but people of all ages including children, parents, families and people living with disability.
The recently released Census data shows the number of people over 55 living in the City of Stirling has grown from 54,683 in 2016 to 62,852 in 2021; by almost 15 per cent.
Over the past five years, the City has provided assistance to find suitable jobs, engaged with seniors through Chatter that Matters engagements, delivered digital literacy programs, memory cafes and walking groups, men’s and women’s shed programs, Stirling Community Care and food services, transport services and many more.
Members of the community can have their say on what the City of Stirling’s priorities should be in drafting our next Age Friendly Strategy on the City’s website.
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