This draft Budget is shaped by your feedback.

Community engagement on this project started in late 2021 using a new online budget simulation tool to better explain our budget planning process and better involve our community in shaping the priorities. This helped to increase engagement at the early stage of the budget preparation, with hundreds of submissions providing insight from people across Stonnington.

The draft Budget also takes insight from feedback across other engagement projects that have helped to shape our projects, strategies and initiatives, including nine months of conversations with our community that informed our Council Plan for 2021-25.

This is a responsive draft Budget that delivers essential services and $67.97 million of infrastructure projects. It reflects over $30 million in lost revenue due to COVID-19 by setting us up to achieve what is outlined in our Council Plan for 2021-2025 and, building back a foundation for the City of Stonnington by securing a strong financial position for the year ahead.

Highlights of the draft Budget include:

• Delivering, maintaining and improving our essential community services
• Building new community basketball, cricket, lacrosse, lawn bowls, netball and tennis facilities at the Percy Treyvaud Memorial Park in Malvern East that will create much needed opportunities for sports more popular with females
• The implementation of our Climate Action Plan to reduce Council and community emissions

• Working with our community to reduce what we send to landfill, with a focus on minimising contamination in residential recycling and green waste collections and ensuring our bins align with changing Victorian Government standards
• Continued investment in core infrastructure such as roads, footpaths, bridges, drainage, parks and open spaces to continue to uplift the look and feel of our public spaces
• Improving our technology so that it’s easier for people to interact with their Council, including commencement of work on a new customer relationship and finance system that will improve how we’re able to communicate and liaise with people
• Strengthening our cyber security to keep our information safe from the increasing risk of external threats
• Incorporating smart cities technologies in our precincts and places to provide real time information so we can make better informed decisions

• Ensuring we remain an employer of choice by creating flexible workplaces that help ensure we can attract the best people to service our community
• Introducing a Place Led Economic Development Strategy to refresh our local shopping precincts in direct response to local feedback
• Construction of a new dedicated dog park at Thomas Oval in South Yarra in partnership with the Victorian Government for our increasing number of dog owners
• Reinvigorating facilities at Toorak Park in Armadale and Princes Gardens in Prahran, including skate park and basketball court improvements
• Strategic direction and masterplan development for the Chapel Street Precinct to position the area for the future

• Early stages of redevelopment works at the Prahran Aquatic Centre
• Commencing stage one of investment into the renewal of our iconic Prahran Market building
• Continued improvements to the open space of Gardiners Creek (KooyongKoot), which is our major waterway and comprises over 40% of our open space in Stonnington.

We have worked hard to prepare a draft Budget in line with our community’s expectations, ensures financial and environmental sustainability and invests in technology that will make it easier for people to interact with us.

Now, we want to hear from you. Review the draft Budget and let us know what you think using the survey options below or by email: finance@stonnington.vic.gov.au before 17 May.

All submissions will be presented and considered by Council in accordance with the Local Government Act 1989 and 2020 at a Council Meeting in June.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say.

To test that we have heard our community correctly we are also holding four online focus groups. During these sessions we will explain the budget process so far, the data we received, how we’ve interpreted it and seek feedback to make sure we’ve understood what you want Council to deliver in this next budget cycle.

Sessions will be held via Zoom and facilitated by MosaicLab, a trusted and experienced community engagement organisation, with Council officers also in attendance. Please note that only registered attendees will receive the Zoom link to take part.

• Tuesday 3 May 9.30am – 11.30am - Register here
• Wednesday 4 May 6pm – 8pm - Register here
• Thursday 12 May 11am - 1pm - Register here
• Thursday 12 May 6pm - 8pm - Register here

During the second round of engagement on the Draft Budget 2022-23 the City of Stonnington ran four focus group sessions to present and discuss the draft budget with members of our community.

Facilitated by Mosaic Lab, a trusted and experienced community engagement organisation, focus group participants spent time exploring the outputs from the budget simulator and how these had been reflected in the draft budget.

The groups then provided insights on how well Council had reflected community priorities in the draft budget. Participants were also asked to look over how the services council provides had been ranked by the community through the budget simulator process.

The insights, observations and reflections from these sessions are collated in these documents:

1. Focus Group Feedback: Financial Plan
2. Focus Group Feedback: Services
3. Focus Group Feedback: Reflections

On Tuesday 14 June 2022 Council endorsed the City of Stonnington 2022-23 Budget. Shaped by community feedback, Council Plans, strategies and initiatives this budget delivers essential services and $77 million of new infrastructure projects across our places, precincts, projects and services. Highlights of the budget include:

• Building community sporting facilities at the Percy Treyvaud Memorial Park in Malvern East, including four new indoor netball and basketball courts ($24.1m)
• The implementation of our Climate Emergency Action Plan to reduce Council and community emissions (nine activities totalling $1.85 million)
• Working with our community to reduce what is sent to landfill across Stonnington ($4.2 million)
• Continued investment in core infrastructure such as roads, footpaths, bridges and drainage works ($9.57 million)
• Uplifting our technology so that it’s easier for people to interact with their Council ($14.1m) and strengthening our cyber security to keep our information safe
• Incorporating smart cities technologies in our precincts and places to provide real time information so we can make better informed decisions
• Introducing a Place Led Economic Development Strategy to refresh our shopping precincts in direct response to local feedback ($0.7 million)
• Construction of a new dedicated dog park at Thomas Oval in South Yarra in partnership with the Victorian Government ($0.38 million carryover from 2021/22)
• Reinvigorating facilities at Toorak Park in Armadale ($3.6 million) and Princes Gardens in Prahran ($2.6 million), including skate park and basketball court improvements
• Strategic direction and masterplan development for the Chapel Street Precinct to position the area for the future ($2.28 million carryover)
• Early stages of redevelopment works at the Prahran Aquatic Centre ($1.0 million)
• Commencing stage one of investment into the renewal of our iconic Prahran Market building ($1.2 million)
• Continued improvements to the open space of Gardiners Creek (KooyongKoot), which is our major waterway and comprises over 40% of our open space in Stonnington. ($0.7 million)

For more information please read the 2022-23 Budget and the news release on our website.

Finally we would like to thank everyone who took the time and effort to provide input and feedback during this budget process.