By Mayor Jim Child
Now the outdoor pool season is starting to wind down – and the days get too cold to zip out to a water play park – it’s time to tell us about how you use our local aquatic facilities.
We’ve had a survey open since the end of February, asking community members about how they use pools and water play parks locally, and how you’d like to use them in the future.
We know that pools and water play parks are local hubs – it’s where you meet with friends, where you learn to swim, where you host school carnivals and where you make memories, whether you’re at an outdoor pool event in the middle of summer, or swimming in a heated pool in the depths of winter.
They’re also community assets that require a lot of planning, a lot of funding and a lot of care as they’re managed over the years, balancing the social, environmental and financial impacts of the facilities with the needs of the community.
We’ve already heard from hundreds of people in the Yarra Ranges, but it’s important we get as many voices as possible, so we know that our Draft Aquatics Strategy, to be released later this year, aligns with those needs and carves a clear path forward for coming years,
All the comments you provide in our survey will help inform that draft strategy – which will also be open for community comment when it is presented. There is plenty of time, and plenty of opportunities, to share your feedback.
The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, which is an incredibly small amount of time to help us shape the next few decades of aquatics in the Yarra Ranges.
The survey closes on 26 April. I strongly encourage all community members to visit shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au to have their say, and see what other engagements are open for comment.
The survey is also available at our Community Links in hard copy, for whose who want it.
