Key projects and activities

We continued to support the Glen Eira community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and have introduced and participated in new initiatives to help our community during a challenging time.

At a Council Meeting on Tuesday 16 December 2020, we increased our COVID-19 Response and Recovery Package from $7.3 million to $8.9 million. The package was further enhanced to respond to new directives from the Victorian Chief Health Officer and feedback from residents, businesses and community organisations. This included allocating additional funding for our Community Action Grants and Small Business Support Grants.

We are committed to protecting the environment now and into the future.

As part of our commitment to achieve zero net corporate emissions by 2025 and zero net community emissions by 2030, we have been busy working on a range of initiatives to reduce our carbon emissions and minimise the impacts of climate change. This has included engaging with the community in late 2020 on how we can help them reduce their carbon emissions; adding two new electric vehicles — Bev and Zoe — to our fleet in early 2021; endorsing an Environmental Building and Infrastructure Policy in late February 2021; using reclaimed asphalt pavement in our annual road resurfacing works; and preparing and consulting on a draft Our Climate Emergency Response Strategy 2021–2025 in April 2021.

After many months of community consultation, debate and decision-making, the Glen Eira 2040 Community Vision was endorsed at a Council Meeting on Wednesday 19 May 2021.

The process to create a Vision written by the community for the community was a first for Glen Eira. More than 4,000 community members provided their opinions and feedback during its development.

The Vision was created by a panel of 42 local residents of varied ages, gender, suburbs and backgrounds who were selected via a deliberative process. They spent more than 25 hours over several months reviewing community feedback, relevant data and technical information, and working together through intense discussions to develop a draft Vision statement: Our Glen Eira — a thriving community of empowered citizens working together for an inclusive and sustainable future.

Trees have always been an important part of what makes Glen Eira such a great place to live, work and play. In July 2020, we consulted with the community on a proposed Classified Tree Local Law. Following consultation, Council adopted a new Classified Tree Local Law in September 2020 to protect significant tree species from being damaged or removed from public or privately-owned land.

Our Council and Community Plan 2017–2021 committed to consulting the community on the implementation of a Classified Tree Register. A Classified Tree Register is a list of trees within the municipality that are considered significant and warrant protection. In two rounds of community consultation in 2017 and 2018, the community indicated support for the adoption of a new Local Law that would protect the most valuable and important trees in Glen Eira.

On Tuesday 16 March 2021, Council made the decision to consolidate our three residential aged care facilities — Spurway, Warrawee and Rosstown — into two sites — Warrawee and Rosstown.

Glen Eira is the only council in Victoria that still owns and operates residential aged care. Since our first facility opened more than 40 years ago, residential aged care has become more complex and challenging. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and COVID-19 has also changed the aged care landscape.