About the projectThe Yarra Glen Interim Township Group which was established in response to the Shire’s "Learning Towns Toolkit Roadshow" initiative. After several false starts - the first in 2001 - we were able to slot into the Shire’s Township Program in mid 2004. Members of the group have diverse backgrounds and interests in the Yarra Glen community and share a common love and appreciation of the town and surrounding area. They share a commitment to ensure that Yarra Glen retains its unique character within the wider Yarra Valley and they have shown that they are prepared to make the effort to work with the community to help manage the future growth and development of the town. We have all been aware of the changes that have occurred in Yarra Glen in the last few years. Many of these have contributed well to the quality and diversity of our town; but this is not true of all developments. None of us can say that there is a broad plan or an integrated program that identifies exactly what Yarra Glen is today or sets out medium or long-term objectives for the town. We don’t know what Yarra Glen will look like in 10 years time. All members of the community have a vested interest in the future of Yarra Glen. Naturally our interests will vary, we will not agree on all details, but there is no doubt that we share a common interest in our town and district. Stage 1 ReportWe are taking the first steps toward developing a broad plan for the future of Yarra Glen and we need to have the confidence of community support to proceed. This report is based on a set of hour-long interviews with 55 members of the Yarra Glen community and the region. The interviewees were selected from different groups and backgrounds so that we achieved a balance between township and rural surrounds; young and old; male and female; business and resident and so on. We believe that our sample is reflective of the broad population of the 3775 postal district. To ensure this work links our town and district to the broader context of the Shire the material generated from the interviews was categorised and sorted by Vision 2020 themes. There was remarkable concurrence between what people said and from this material a clear set of shared draft values and visions emerged. However, we must be sure that the draft values do indeed reflect the values and visions of the broader community, so before the final position is reached the community needs the chance to read, discuss, comment and refine. Please read carefully; please comment constructively. In the end, we will have a very powerful document to take us into the future as a community with a clear set of visions and a sense of place.
Stage 2 ProgressThis first "Community Report" is released by the Yarra Glen Interim Township Group to keep the community of the Town and surrounding District up to date with the progress of our Stage 2 programme for the Values and Vision Project.
Community SurveyThe Yarra Glen and District Values and Vision survey has now closed. The response from the local community was extremely high with over 450 responses received. A summary of the survey results can be found at the Community Survey page. This can either be viewed or downloaded as a PDF File Community Newsletter #3We are now entering the final phase of our project. This phase will conclude with the Community Celebration and Election Day on Sunday April 30 when we will launch the Final Report on The Values and Vision Project and hold an election for a Township Group. In this Newsletter (April 2006) you will find a description of the proposed structure and role of the Township Group to be elected on the Community Day. A nomination form is attached to this newsletter. We encourage you to consider nominating. It is important that we have a Township Group, drawn from residents in the 3775 postal district, that reflects our diversity as a community and takes an active part in decision making and advice in relation to the future of the town and district. Final ReportThe final report of the Values and Vision Project has been released and is available on this site (May 2006). It is in Adobe Acrobat format - 3.1 MB (will take 10+ minutes to load over a modem) - You will need the free program Abobe Reader to view this file. You can right click on the previous link and "Save target as" to save the report to your computer.
Updated 5/25/06.
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