Our Focus Our Future update
February 2025
Thank you!
A huge thank you to every single one of you who shared your views, providing us with helpful feedback for Surf Coast Shire Council’s Our Focus Our Future community engagement project.
We received over 1,000 contributions, including 858 survey responses, 83 youth surveys, feedback from around 80 kids, and 15 group submissions. We also spoke to more than 1,110 people at 16 pop up sessions across the shire.
Your feedback is so important and will help inform Council priorities, as we develop a series of strategic documents including the new Council Plan.
Community panel
Also, thanks to those who expressed their interest in being part of the community panel after receiving a letter in the mail as part of a random selection process.
From here, a panel of 45 community members representing a range of demographic groups will be established to give advice to Council to support the development of Council’s key strategic plans, which will set the future direction for the next four years.
Next steps
We’re going through all the feedback we received now and will develop an engagement report, which we’ll release on our website in late February.
Community panel members will be confirmed in the coming weeks and then the panel will meet for the first time later this month.
Community Engagement
Our Focus Our Future will guide the creation of important plans, like the next Council Plan and Health & Wellbeing Plan.
Over a series of community engagement phases, we'll be asking you about your priorities and experiences in your local area, so that community input can help guide Council's direction over the next four years.
November 2024 - February 2025
Phase 1 is now open, closing on February 3 2025.
Follow the links above to fill in our survey, or make a submission on behalf of your community group.
We'll publish the results of the engagement in early March 2025.
Read the Terms and Conditions for the survey prizes.
Pop Ups
You can catch us for a chat at the following locations:
| Date | Time | Event / Pop up |
| Sunday 24 November | 10am-1pm | VicPol Community Event |
| Sunday 24 November | 2:30pm -6:30pm | Deans Marsh Twilight Market & Carols |
| Saturday 30 November | 8:30am-1pm | Torquay Farmers Market |
| Sunday 1 December | 9am-1pm | Winchelsea Community Market |
| Wednesday 4 December | 3:30pm-5:30pm | Torquay pop up, Wurrdi Baierr |
| Thursday 5 December | 3-5pm | Lorne pop up (outside Foodworks) |
| Friday 6 December 6 | 9am-10am | Jan Juc pop up (outside Swell) |
| Saturday 7 December | 9am-11am | Anglesea pop up (Bowls Club carpark) |
| Monday 9 December | 10am-12pm | Winchelsea pop up (Cafe La Hoot) |
| Tuesday 10 December | 9:30-11:30am | Torquay pop up (Outside IGA) |
| Thursday 12 December | 3pm – 5pm | Anglesea pop up (shopping strip near Morgans) |
| Friday 13 December | 9-10am | Moriac pop up (Outside General Store) |
| Saturday 14 December | 8:30-1pm | Torquay Farmers Market |
| Sunday 15 December | 9am-1pm | Aireys Inlet Market |
February - March 2025
A panel of community members will be established to give advice to Council on the Council Plan.
This will involve 45 local people, who will be randomly selected from a range of demographic groups to be part of the community panel. Thousands of people across the shire will receive a letter in the post inviting them to apply to join the panel.
A recommendations report will be produced by the Panel following their 3 workshops in early 2025, and will be published here when avialable.
June 2025
Once draft documents are available, we will check back in with community for your final feedback.
*Read the Terms and Conditions for survey prizes
