Every four years, with community input, we prepare a Council Plan that sets our direction for the next four years and outlines the steps the Council will take towards achieving our Community Vision.

To make sure our Community Vision (originally developed in 2021 with a 20-year horizon to 2040) continues to reflect what the community thinks is important for Stonnington’s future, we undertook a process to review the vision with the help of our community.

This began in September 2024 with a check-in with the wider community through a series of in-person pop-up sessions and an online survey to gather feedback on the vision.

For more detail, see the Summary of initial community engagement.

In addition, 237 community members also filled out an expression-of-interest application to join our People’s Panel to review the Community Vision in detail.

Initial input from the community was fed into the Stonnington People’s Panel 2025 – made up of 33 community members representing a diverse cross-section of people living, working, studying or owning a business in Stonnington.

In February and March 2025, our volunteer panel members took part in a series of workshops to review and build on the initial community feedback. As part of this they undertook a detailed review of the Community Vision ensuring it still reflects the hopes and priorities of our community and provides strong guidance for Council’s future planning.

For more detail, see the Summary of outcomes from the People’s Panel.

The draft Council Plan was released for final public feedback from 29 July to 18 August 2025, and we heard from a broad cross-section of our community who provided their views. As the result of this feedback, the Council made an adjustment to the Council Plan as part of its final adoption.

For more detail, see the 22 September 2025 Council meeting agenda papers and minutes.

The Council Plan (Stonnington Tomorrow) includes our Community Vision – expressing where our community wants to be by 2040.

Vision statement

Welcome to Stonnington 2040. A modern, sustainable and interconnected community that supports the good health and wellbeing of all.

Stonnington Tomorrow also includes five key strategic directions in response to the Community Vision and long-term opportunities and challenges facing Stonnington:

Liveable City

How we ensure Stonnington remains a great place to live, work and play while the city continues to grow

Vibrant Destination

How we celebrate the city’s unique qualities, bringing people together to enjoy its many offerings

Thriving Community

How we can support people of all backgrounds to enjoy a sense of safety, wellbeing and connection

Sustainable Environment

How we can respond to the urgent challenges of climate change and support our city and community to be resilient to its impacts

Well-governed Organisation

How we keep up with the multiple challenges facing our city and be responsive to our community while using limited Council resources wisely

Stonnington Tomorrow should be read alongside the 2025–26 Budget, which outlines how Council will allocate resources to deliver on its objectives and make progress towards our Community Vision.