We are planning Council’s new Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan (MPHWP) 2021-2025.

This Plan sets out how we will work towards promoting improved health and wellbeing for all ages and abilities so that people can live better lives in Bayside. The Plan will be used by Council, local health service providers and community organisations to set policy and partnership priorities for the next four years, focusing on health and wellbeing trends that have the greatest impact on the community.

To develop the draft Plan, community engagement will be undertaken in two stages.

The first phase of engagement was open from 1 February to 14 March 2021 and focused on ideas generation and exploring health and wellbeing priorities identified by the community.

A summary of the findings from the early phase of consultation is presented below. We will continue to upload more of what we heard as the project progresses.

In the first phase of community engagement, we asked you what you thought were the biggest opportunities to improve health and wellbeing in Bayside and what you believed were Bayside’s biggest barriers. We also asked you to prioritise the areas you believed were most important for Council to focus on to support the community’s health and wellbeing.

The first phase of community consultation was conducted during COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, we utilised mainly online tools to connect with both the wider community and our community partners.

As well as using the Have Your Say survey, we also connected with you through:

• Printed surveys distributed through Bayside Libraries, Community Centres, Senior Groups, Youth Ambassadors, Immunisation sessions and First-time parent groups.
• Ideas walls located at Sandringham and Beaumaris libraries
• Video meetings and online workshops.
• Face to face conversations with targeted groups.
• Promotion of the project using social media and Council communication channels.

Using your feedback, we identified the following key priorities that you considered opportunities to improving health and wellbeing in Bayside:

1. Facilitate opportunities for social inclusion (33%)
2. Provide fair access to support services and community resources (29%)
3. Improve infrastructure for passive recreation including cycling and walking (22%)
4. Increase participation in physical activity (17%)

We also received a range of comments that couldn’t be applied to in the draft Plan as they are covered by other Council Plans and Strategies and therefore considered outside of scope, this included:

• improvements to open space
• increase tree planting
• provide more urban forests
• increase car parking
• update footpaths and increase the number of pedestrian crossings.

We wanted to hear what you thought were the biggest barriers preventing you from being at your healthiest.

Key feedback which we heard during community consultation included:

1. Limited access to affordable, appropriate, and inclusive services (41%)
2. Availability of resources to support promotion of healthy services and programs (32%)
3. Lack of access to social programs that support community connections (28%)

We also received a range of comments on the barriers in Bayside that couldn’t be applied to in the draft Plan as they are covered by other Plans and Strategies at Council and therefore considered outside of scope, this included

• traffic congestion
• limited tree canopies
• limited water fountains
• uneven footpaths.

We wanted to get a better understanding of what you thought should be the key areas of focus for Council to prioritise in supporting the community’s health and wellbeing. Based on a list of fifteen we asked you to rank your top five areas of focus.

We have developed a draft Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021 -2025 and need your feedback.

The Plan is an important tool that will be used by Council, local health service providers and community organisations to set policy and partnership priorities for the next four years.

It builds on the health and wellbeing aspirations of the community outlined in the Bayside Community Vision 2050 and will focuses on health and wellbeing issues that will have the greatest impact.

We have developed this plan following an extensive consultation process speaking with community members across all ages and abilities to understand the biggest opportunities to improve health and wellbeing and what are the barriers that need to be overcome.

As part of this process we also collaborated with our agency partners and our key committees including Bayside Healthy Ageing Reference Group, Bayside’s Disability Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee’s to understand how they can support us in delivering the key actions from the plan.

It captures the many different views, experiences, and knowledge of our diverse community and should be reflective of the areas that our key to improving the overall health and wellbeing in Bayside.

We will present the final Plan to Council for adoption at its 26 October 2021 meeting.

Find out more and have your say