Make Wodonga Yours - Shape the Future

Background
Outcomes
Community breakfast
Where to from here?
Second leaders' breakfast
Speakers' presentations
To give your feedback on the event or the process, you can send an email to leadership@wodonga.vic.gov.au

Background:

Wodonga Council's Community Leadership Summit on Tuesday, April 15 was an outstanding success for Wodonga. In total 200 community leaders attended the summit during the day sessions and 160 attended the evening dinner at which Kirsty Sword Gusmao, first lady for Timor Leste, was the keynote speaker. Some of the speakers' presentations can be downloaded below.

The summit was designed to bring together keynote speakers and leaders from across the city to experience what is happening globally, nationally and regionally and how the world is changing so rapidly. The aim of these sessions was to better inform our leaders of the existing and emerging trends in the rapidly changing world we live in.

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Outcomes:

During the afternoon sessions, Geraldine Doogue facilitated a number of question and answer sessions between our leaders and the keynote speakers.

The event finished with a series of round table workshops where our leaders downloaded their thoughts and ideas about the future of Wodonga and the issues confronting us and the type of city they want for the future.

Some of the comments made were:

Wodonga and Albury councils working together:

Not about changing government
Should be about co-operation and lack of duplication
Get smart about using funding from both NSW and Vic – whatever will be funded by NSW gets built in Albury; whatever funded by Vic in Wodonga
The one thing we could do together is develop consistency and agreement over development rules.

Reducing air travel

Focus on short haul trips.
It’s about balance – happiness can be found elsewhere (other than through consumption)
Poorer people travelling is a myth – it’s wealthy people taking advantage of cheap flights.
Carbon trading will provide financial dis-incentive to fly. But society needs to take initiative and change their behaviour - Make travel special again – no need to go overseas every year

Public transport

It's been 20 years since AWDC’s vision for Albury/Wodonga included public transport. Where is it?
Can we just do it where public transport is concerned?
Must make public transport an election issue – take on the State govt. Citizens must organise themselves. Use the media
People ask for it – they must support it. Be aware of the bus stop outside your door.

Planning versus Adaptability

Scenario planning assumes tomorrow will be like today. This is fantasy. Trying to plan locks you in to a single course of action.
Sustainability isn’t about projecting – it’s about adaptability
The physical/technological are not what will save us – it’s the culture; the spirit of innovation & adaptability
We need both the technological and the cultural
Find the triggers that will bring about change. Think about the laneways of Melbourne & their revitalisation. Cultural change was needed but the unused space was the trigger.
Don’t necessarily look for the macro things. The macro are important but too overwhelming. The answer probably lies within the people we have already.
How do we attract the creative minds to come here?

Problem led or possibility led?

Problem led means people can learn by doing. Do it yourselves and you will learn and the possibilities will emerge.
A successful pilot attracts others; build credibility and own capacity

Social connectivity

Has to happen. The sense of what Wodonga is will grow through getting together to uncover strengths
This project will be relationship led. We will have to make friends.
Council can connect the ideas of the people in the room.
Facilitate the talent to explore new ways
Study walking patterns. We have a huge amount of data on traffic patterns because of focus on road infrastructure. But where do people walk and why?

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Community breakfast:

The following morning 45 leaders gathered for a breakfast facilitated by Jenni Dunn and Erin Jancauskas of Nowforfuture where key issues from the summit and desired outcomes for the future were recorded. These are displayed pictorially and at future leadership meetings.

The map will also be distributed to all attendees of the summit including details of all keynote presentations and information recorded in the workshops.

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Where to from here?

The summit was the first stage of the comprehensive community planning process and from here a series of workshops will be conducted with those who attended the breakfast and others from the summit interested in participating in a preferred visionary future for Wodonga.

The first of the workshops will be conducted in May, 2008 and the process is now being prepared for council’s consideration.

Facilitator Geraldine Doogue speaks to the summit.

Further to the leadership summit an opportunity exists for the council to conduct a number of other key events that will feed into the community planning process.

These are:

A national affordable housing for regional Australia summit
A regional workshop on sustainable cities
A regional workshop on public transport

Discussions are being held with both the state and federal governments regarding housing affordability and it is hoped that both state and federal ministers for housing will be able to attend the summit and have input into policy development for affordable housing in our city and regional communities.

Our leadership summit expressed a strong desire for Wodonga to be known as the cleanest and greenest regional city in Australia and the regional conference on sustainable cities will provide a valuable insight into how this can be achieved.

The council is about to undertake a public transport study for the city. Considerable discussion occurred at our leadership summit about the need to plan an extensive public transport system for the future. Our city must become a more walkable city where both walking, public transport and bicycles become the preferred modes of travel and where there is less dependency on cars. As part of the community engagement program for the public transport study a workshop will be conducted that engages all key stakeholders and general community in visioning the future public transport system for our city.

Detailed planning for these events and the community planning process is now underway.

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Second leaders' breakfast

Recently, more than 75 Wodonga residents attended the second Leaders' Breakfast. Please find attached the Values Chart and Feedback from the Breakfast.

The feedback tells us where we are now and will assist us with the development of a Community Profile for Wodonga.

You will receive an update in four weeks' time that will include a copy of Wodonga's Community Profile and the date and agenda for the next Leaders' Meeting.

Thank you for your valuable participation, please continue to provide feedback anytime during this process by post, e-mail or phone. Alternatively, the charts from each breakfast are displayed at the Library, Community Centres and Neighbourhood Houses across Wodonga, paper and pens are provided for you to add your comments.

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