AGED care reforms, community facilities and council transparency were on the agenda when the City of Greater Bendigo invited residents to present their ideas.
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Councillors and directors blocked out Wednesday evening – from 5.30pm until about 9pm – to hear submissions on the proposed budget and community plan.
Representing the Bendigo Uniting Church, Garth Phillips highlighted the need for the community plan to represent the best interests of all residents, including people experiencing disadvantage.
“This group needs to be heard,” Mr Phillips said.
He emphasised a need for improved access to affordable housing to be met as part of the council’s vision to create “the world’s most liveable community.”
“Advocate for increased access to social and affordable housing” is one of the ways the city has proposed to meet objectives around presentation and managing growth in its draft plan.
However, Bendigo mayor Margaret O’Rourke called on her deputy, Rod Fyffe, to chase up the issue with the Municipal Association of Victoria, of which he is a board member.
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Next up was Ruth Hosking, who spoke of the difficulties community members in need of aged care were having with reforms to the system.
She described ‘staggering’ delays in the assessments required to determine eligibility for a home care package, and assess the needs of applicants.
“Applicants are waiting many months for face-to-face assessments,” Mrs Hosking said.
She said the wait for packages to be allocated by the federal government was also a consideration.
“The reality is you need to plan 18 months ahead whether you want a home care package,” Mrs Hosking said.
Bendigo health and wellbeing director Vicky Mason said the city was planning a trip to Canberra for the mayor, the chief executive officer and another councillor to highlight issues of importance.
She suggested the Bendigo representatives raise the challenges residents were having with My Aged Care with the responsible minister.
Ms Mason said people had been seeking the city’s assistance with the reforms since they were rolled out.
What was supposed to be an easy, single point of access to the system was becoming more difficult for many, she said.
“We had a working system – why change it?” Mrs Hosking said.
“I’m in the aged care bracket they’re talking about and it’s frightening.”
It was suggested that council arrange an information session, of sorts, to help address some of the community’s concerns.
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Consistency, transparency and accountability were the key values underpinning Ted Coleman’s submission to council.
Standout ideas from his presentation included the formation of a community advisory committee, an independent review, and half-yearly meetings with elected representatives from all levels of government.
“This whole thing is about putting up ideas,” Mr Coleman said.
He said there was a lack of consistency across the budget and the community plan, and a lack of detail in the two key documents.
“I’m deeply concerned the actions are not there,” Mr Coleman said.
“You’ve got to be far more clear about what you’re specifically going to do for the next four years.”
“Just to interrupt, Ted, that’s exactly the next level of detail we will have in the plan,” Cr O’Rourke said.
“It should be out there now,” Mr Coleman replied.
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Colin Burns was of a similar mind with his submission, which targeted the same values.
He, too, believed the objectives council had set were too achievable.
The proposed budget and community plan were vague and lacked continuity, in his opinion.
Mr Burns also queried the fate of council’s ward meetings, which he had observed to be less frequent.
“We’re not totally walking away from ward meetings,” Cr O’Rourke said.
While feedback had indicated some people found the meetings valuable, the mayor said others had called for alternative methods of community interaction.
“We’re just trying different formats,” she said.
Bob Colbourne devoted his time allocation to advocating for people with disabilities.
He noted with pleasure that the word ‘disability’ was directly and indirectly mentioned many times throughout the documents.
However, he called for further clarity on how the funding included in the proposed budget for ‘wellbeing and fairness’ would be spent.
“What aspects of disability come under wellbeing and fairness?” Mr Colbourne asked.
“There’s so much that could be done. There’s so much that needs to be done.”
He said about 20 per cent of the city’s population was living with a disability, not including the elderly.
The figure took him by surprise, despite his involvement in the Bendigo Polio Support Group, the Uncle Bobs Club and the City of Greater Bendigo Disability Inclusion Reference Committee.
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Kerryn Baldwin and her son Aidan were up next, to make their case for funding for a skate park in Epsom to be included in the proposed budget.
They were seeking $20,000 to help with the design process, which was estimated to cost $30,000.
Ms Baldwin said there was little for young people to do in Epsom, despite the growth she and her family have seen in the area in the past eight years.