Wangaratta Community Vision and Council Plan
Shaping Wangaratta’s Council Plan and Community Vision
The challenge
Rural City Council of Wangaratta is developing a refreshed Community Vision and Council Plan to guide the next four years of civic priorities and long-term aspirations. The process needed to be inclusive, transparent and deliberative—reflecting the diverse perspectives of residents across seven wards, including outlying rural communities.
Council’s goal was to create a meaningful strategy shaped by the people who live and work in Wangaratta. The process needed to meet legislative requirements while also strengthening community trust and setting a bold, shared direction for the future.
What we did
Establishing strong project foundations through workshops with Council staff, background document review, and community profiling.
Designing and facilitating a deliberative engagement process including:
- A Deliberative Discussion Guide, used to inform communityand stakeholder workshops.
- Community visioning survey, online ideas forum and pop-upsto gather broad input.
- Targeted engagement with rural communities, young people,First Nations, CALD groups, older residents and those with lived experience ofvulnerability.
- Internal engagement with staff and leadership, includingwebinars, interviews, and a Council Leaders Program.
- Developing draft Community Vision themes and strategic focus areas, based on insights from engagement and data analysis.
- Translating vision themes into a draft Council Plan, including clear strategic indicators and prioritised actions.
- Supporting a public exhibition period with tailored communications and feedback mechanisms.
- Finalising the Community Vision and Council Plan, ready for adoption and implementation.
Outcomes
Theproject delivered a grounded and future-focused Community Vision and CouncilPlan that speaks to the aspirations of people across the municipality. Itprovides Council with a clear, community-endorsed framework foraction—prioritising wellbeing, liveability, economic resilience andenvironmental stewardship. The process also strengthened relationships withrural communities and modelled best-practice deliberative engagement that willinform future Council planning.
