Campaspe Place Plans
The Rochester Place Plan
The Challenge
Campaspe Shire is located in north-central Victoria and home to more than 37,500 residents. Council identified a need for a more place-based approach to planning and subsequently commissioned the development of a series of local Place Plans to guide decision making around community priorities for key settlements across the Shire. The plans will establish a vision for each town, articulate those aspects which are important and valued by the community and set out local priorities for the future. They will also provide guidance for future investment decisions and broader regional decision making around community, and social infrastructure. At the heart of this project is an extensive and deliberative community engagement approach to gather local intelligence and information that will shape the priorities and actions of each plan.
CoFutures is working in collaboration with Cred Consulting to develop the Place Plans for Echuca, Rochester and Lockington.
What We Did
To date we have:
- Facilitated community panels for the township of Rochester to guide the vision and development of the Place Plan.
- Designed and delivered a range of innovative and localised community engagement activities (online and in person).
- Reviewing and analysing community feedback to translate into a suite of strategic priorities and actions.
- Up-skilled and trained members of the community panel to deliver community engagement activities in partnership with the project team.
- Developed the Rochester Place Plan that reflects the local vision that has been co-developed with each community panel.
Outcomes
The project commenced in mid-2022 and to date we completed the first Place Plan. The Plan will help to inform investment opportunities and priorities for the Rochester Township following the flooding events of 2023, which significantly impacted the town. Place Plans for Ecucha and Lockington are expected to commence in 2024.
