The city has taken a snapshot of our city and asked how can it make it better going forward. Any organisation prepared to do that on behalf of its residents should be commended.

Most of us live in Bendigo because we love central Victoria and all it has to offer, but the council has set the ambitious goal of making it better. It wants our city to become Australia's most liveable.

Some of the areas it will seek to improve include increasing the number of houses within a 10 minute walk of a park or open space; increasing child immunisation rates to better than the state average; lowering the number of people aged over 60 who live alone on a low income; decreasing recorded offences of crimes against the person, including robbery, assault, rape and abduction; decreasing to 50 per cent or less the proportion of Greater Bendigo people who do not meet fruit and vegetable dietary guidelines and increasing the number of people aged 17 years still attending some form of education.

Just how some of the indicators can be measured is curious, but setting goals in many of these areas are steps in the right direction.

If the plan is approved after public consultation, the challenge will be to find ways to deliver outcomes, and to pull the community together to help meet some of these targets

But if there are targets you believe are more important, now is the time to have your say.

Nicole Ferrie, deputy editor.