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Glenorchy wins gold award

Glenorchy City Council has taken out the Gold Award at the annual Local Government Awards for Excellence 2000 organised by the Local Government Association of Tasmania. The Award was won for the City's Community Plan, which also took out the Management Practice/Innovation category.

General Manager David Lovell said the community plan was developed in response to a State Government requirement that Councils prepare a five year Strategic Plan.

"We had had a Plan for a number of years but it was inadequate in many ways," he said.

"This was because it had been developed without much consultation with the community.

"We needed to review our Strategic Plan but we also needed a Plan not only for Council but for the whole community."

As a result Council developed two Plans, one a new Strategic Plan and a separate Community Plan.

To develop it, Manager Community Participation Lindy Mackey organised 50 public meetings gathering together all the stakeholders in the City's future. In addition, she held a Planning Day with 300 staff and Aldermen organised into teams.

"Thanks must go to the community," she said "We had hundreds of people giving freely of their time to tell us their vision for Glenorchy over the next 10 - 20 years."

The process brought out the community's sense of pride and satisfaction in living in Glenorchy and their aim to maintain and further advance this.

As a result of the Plan, representatives from 12 precincts will meet regularly to develop local area plans.

It has led to the formation of Team Glenorchy. Comprising various community leaders, this group will monitor the Community Plan and find ways to achieve goals wider than Council control.

Areas covered in the Plan range across all aspects of community life from traffic flow through to waste management, education, and economic enterprise and more.

Implementation of the Community Plan will be tied into Council's Strategic Plan. This ensures that Council management reflects the community's wishes.

For further information contact Lindy Mackey, telephone (03) 6274 0767.

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