Have you been invited?

Have you got an envelope in the letterbox that looks like the one in the photo? If so, then congratulations! You have been randomly invited to put your name forward for a “community panel”. What is this “community panel”? It is part of the Imagine Greater Bendigo project that is happening at the moment, which is all about planning for Bendigo’s future.

If you have received an invitation, you can put your name forward to express interest, and then out of those people who have expressed an interest, 50 people will be selected to be on the panel. You’ll consider feedback received from the community, and help to form a community vision as well as considering how council will achieve this vision.

Being a panel member is a challenging yet exciting opportunity. You’ll be asked to help decide our goals for the future, but also consider the difficult elements of achieving those goals. What goals should be prioritised? What’s most important to invest money and time in? What do these choices mean for other council services? These are the questions that councillors and council wrestle with every day, and you’ll have input into this process.

I encourage you, if you’ve received an invitation, to strongly consider putting in an expression of interest. You have until March 28th to do so. If you’d like to have a chat with me first, please email me on d.fagg@bendigo.vic.gov.au.