Community voice shapes Indigo Shire's future direction

Published on 13 May 2025

Indigo Shire Council has endorsed its draft new Council Plan, revised Community Vision and draft 2025/26 Budget for public exhibition.

Mayor Sophie Price says the documents have been directly shaped by what residents across the Shire told Council through various community engagement initiatives.

"We're particularly proud of the way these draft documents reflect what our community has told us matters most to them," Cr Price says.

"We engaged with our community to understand their priorities as part of developing our new Council Plan. Their responses reinforced the need for us to focus on road maintenance, infrastructure renewal, and community wellbeing – priorities that have directly shaped our budget."

The engagement process was robust, with more than 1,900 visits to the ENGAGED INDIGO digital platform and 284 active contributors participating through surveys, idea boards, and interactive mapping tools.

"We saw strong participation across all our townships, with 260 surveys submitted, 121 contributions to our ideas board, and 41 locations mapped through our interactive tool," Cr Price explained. "This represents a significant level of community input that has genuinely influenced our strategic direction."

The draft Council Plan is built around four key themes that emerged from community feedback:

• Places and Communities
• Economic Resilience and Opportunity
• Environment and Heritage
• Governance and Financial Sustainability

Mayor Price noted that despite significant financial pressures facing all Victorian councils, Indigo Shire has developed a draft budget that maintains all current services while introducing several important new initiatives.

"Our draft budget includes an $11.62 million capital works program of which $3.3M is being carried forward from the current budget to complete projects already approved," she said.

The key budget initiatives include:

• $4.6M for new, renewed, and upgraded roads, bridges, and pathways
• $500,000 (in addition to the $100,000 in the current budget) to replace the roof at the Beechworth Town Hall
• $180,000 to repair the roof at the Burke Museum
• $1M to upgrade facilities at the Rutherglen Caravan Park
• $750,000 for the replacement of McFeeters Road bridge in Beechworth
• $90,000 to provide a footpath link from the new Rutherglen aged care facility to the town centre

In response to community feedback, we're also proposing significant investment in:

• $200,000 increase in road maintenance
• $90,000 for streetscape beautification works across the Shire
• $25,000 for trail maintenance to support our expanded rail trail and mountain bike networks
• $40,000 to plan for the future of our shire's tourism in the context of increasing visitation and the future World Heritage Listing

"We've listened carefully to our community and developed a Council Plan and Budget that balances the needs of our diverse townships with the significant challenges facing the local government sector, particularly around financial sustainability," Cr Price says.

Cr Price also addressed Council's application to the Essential Services Commission for a rate cap variation.

"It's important for our community to understand that we have applied to transfer the Environmental Management Contribution (EMC) to general rates in accordance with the Local Government Minister's 'Good Practice Guidelines for Service Rates and Charges.”

"This is a revenue-neutral change that will have no impact on Council's total revenue, but it will change how waste services are funded. If approved, general rates will increase by 7.54% on average, which includes the standard 3% annual rate cap increase set by the state government plus 4.54% for the transfer. At the same time, the EMC will be removed from rate notices."

"I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the development of these documents. Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us understand community priorities and shape a plan and budget that truly reflects the needs of our Shire."

The suite of strategic documents are available for public comment by visiting ENGAGED INDIGO. Submissions close on 4 June 2025. Council will consider all submissions before the final Council Plan and Budget are adopted at the June Council meeting.

-ENDS-