Knox 50 Final ReportFINAL REPORT | MARCH 2013 Page 7 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose Purpose of this...

Knox@50 Final Report March 2013

KNOX@50 OUR CITY... OUR FUTURE

FINAL REPORT | MARCH 2013 Page 1

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 3

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 7

1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 7

1.2 Context ................................................................................................................................ 7

1.3 Past Engagement with the Knox Community ...................................................................... 8

1.4 Timeframes ........................................................................................................................ 14

1.5 Engagement Methodology ................................................................................................ 14

1.6 Council’s Engagement Policy and Framework .................................................................. 16

1.7 Governance ....................................................................................................................... 17

2 ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................... 18

2.1 Community Forum ............................................................................................................. 18

2.2 Advisory Committees ........................................................................................................ 18

2.3 Focus Groups ..................................................................................................................... 18

2.4 Knox Council Staff Workshops........................................................................................... 19

2.5 Business Forum ................................................................................................................. 19

2.6 Vox Pops ‘Voice of the People’ .......................................................................................... 19

2.7 Dialogue Groups ................................................................................................................ 19

2.8 Youth Engagement ............................................................................................................ 20

2.9 Partners Forum .................................................................................................................. 20

2.10 Foothills Community Care dinner ...................................................................................... 20

2.11 Online ................................................................................................................................ 20

2.12 Postcards ........................................................................................................................... 21

2.13 Community Leadership Group .......................................................................................... 21

2.14 Quantitative Survey ........................................................................................................... 21

2.15 Customer Service Phone Poll ............................................................................................. 22

2.16 Knox Festival 2012 ............................................................................................................. 22



2.17 Stringybark Festival 2012 .................................................................................................. 22

3 ENGAGEMENT THEMES AND OUTCOMES ................................................................ 23

3.1 What are Drivers of Change and how have they been considered in the Knox@50

project?.............................................................................................................................. 23

3.1.1. Identity ............................................................................................................... 25

3.1.2. Population .......................................................................................................... 28

3.1.3. Technology ......................................................................................................... 31

3.1.4. Resources ........................................................................................................... 33

3.1.5. Governance ........................................................................................................ 36

4 TESTING AND VALIDATION ..................................................................................... 39

4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 39

4.2 Knox@50 Survey................................................................................................................ 39

4.2.1. What the survey asked ...................................................................................... 39

4.2.2. Demographics of respondents ........................................................................... 40

4.2.3. Summary of Responses ...................................................................................... 40

4.3 Community Forum No.2 .................................................................................................... 43

4.4 Customer Service Phone Poll ............................................................................................. 44

4.5 Feedback Forms ................................................................................................................. 44

APPENDICES .................................................................................................................... 45

Appendix 1 List of Vox Pops ................................................................................ 46

Appendix 2 Focus Groups .................................................................................... 48

Appendix 3 Youth Engagement............................................................................ 50

Appendix 4 Dialogue Groups ............................................................................... 51

Appendix 5 Advertising and Mailouts .................................................................. 52

Appendix 6 Key Themes identified through Engagement ..................................... 54

Appendix 7 Meetings .......................................................................................... 56

Appendix 8 Project Team .................................................................................... 57



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In October 2011 Council endorsed a comprehensive approach to Community Engagement around

Liveability. This project emerged as a result of major community and Council concern over rate of

change particularly around housing development in Activity Centres. In response to this Council

decided that a concerted effort to better inform and receive feedback from the community about

what is driving change in our City and within our communities was required prior to making any

further decisions about key strategic policies such as the Housing Statement, a revised Community

Vision, and the development of a municipal City Plan. The Knox@50 process built on other recent,

and more specific, engagement activities undertaken by Council over the past few years.

The project was the largest and most significant community engagement project in Knox since the

development of the previous vision in 2005-2006. The Knox@50 project spanned approximately one

year beginning in January 2012 and concluding in February 2013 with a Community Forum.

Knox@50 was a highly devolved engagement process employing a diversity of techniques ranging

from vox-pops to dialogue groups and community forums. In addition to the traditional approach

which seeks to understand the aspirations of the community, the process through inquiry explored

the community’s key concerns for the future. The process asked the community (through a series of

questions) to consider the changes taking place to their family, their communities and places, and

begin to identify what was causing these changes. This was an important step to understanding the

sort of strategies required to enable our aspirational future and allows us to develop strategies

which specifically seek to influence the causes (or drivers) behind the changes we find threatening or

the ones we find to be positive and in so doing ensure that these ‘drivers’ work for our future rather

than against it.

The engagement approach included a combination of information provision, qualitative and

quantitative research and front-line community engagement. This approach is in line with the

Council Plan 2009-2013 commitment to 'partner and engage with and on behalf of our community’

and ‘Embracing and demonstrating effective governance’.

The introduction of ‘drivers of change’ was an important step in how we engaged with community

about issues affecting our City. Crucially, it ensured that we talked about the City as a dynamic and

forever changing place. This enabled conversations to be had about the changes affecting our City

and the types of responses, investment and interventions we need to influence and manage these.

Using ‘Discussion Papers’ focused on the drivers of change; we initiated a series of conversations

with the community asking them about the changes that were impacting them and their ability to

realise the future they wanted. We asked them what they felt were the key drivers behind these

changes and in turn asked them how we should influence these drivers.



Following the extensive engagement process, a small project team collated and analysed the data

collected throughout the process. Key themes were arranged under the Drivers of Change and

include the following key observations:

Identity

The ‘feeling’ of openness/’country feel’ has been highly valued throughout our

conversations with the Knox Community. This is seen to be under threat from development.

A sense of ‘openness’ is delivered through large backyards, not just formal open space (i.e.

private and public open space).

Participants identified the desire for living, working and playing in the local area (Local

Living). Some reasons for this include maintaining a village feel and know one’s neighbours;

reducing travel times, fuel costs.

The look, feel and location (character of an area) is an essential component of people’s

acceptance of or resistance to different types of housing (whilst the need for diversity is

acknowledged).

Many respondents acknowledge that housing diversity is needed in hubs/activity centres,

making a clear connection between increased density, transport options and open space.

Issues such as traffic congestion, parking, identity, design quality, ‘we didn’t move here to

live on top of each other’, distinction between Knox and inner city have been strong.

Safety has been identified as a concern in some places, where respondents said that they

felt unsafe in some areas. This is coupled with young people identifying certain places have a

‘bad reputation’ and associated shame.

Population

Ageing has been a major focus of conversations with participants, highlighting it will require

more jobs in aged services; new industries, and greater demand on services and new types

of housing.

Interestingly, young people are concerned about the potential tax burden they might carry

in the future to support the ageing population.

The importance of the provision of public transport, particularly older people, young people

and multicultural groups, has been a common issue raised, and that public transport

contributes to helping prevent social isolation, and reducing the traffic congestion and

parking burden.

Infrastructure improvements such as building a rail link to Rowville and a tram to Knox City

has been consistent.



Some participants see multiculturalism as an asset to the community; some see it as a

challenge/threat. Particular issues raised include the importance for different cultures to mix

and ‘fit in’.

Mental health has come through as a major concern in Knox, with some groups in Knox

more vulnerable, such as lone person households, which may lead to social isolation issues.

Technology

The community is aware of the benefits such as greater flexibility of employment and

connections that ever-improving communication technology brings. However, the

community is keenly aware of the downsides particularly of ‘social media’ such as the

potential for greater social isolation and young people potentially losing ‘social skills’.

The increasing social and economic divide has been identified, where some people do not

have access to or the skills to use technology (particularly the elderly), as we become more

reliant on communication technology.

Young people have identified cyber-safety as a major concern for the appropriate use of

communication technology.

The potential for an increase in the social and economic divide resulting from access to and

understanding of technology and information – particularly for the aged has been raised.

There is an awareness of the ‘waste issue’ regarding the constant upgrading of hardware

(TVs, phones, etc) and that this is not sustainable.

Resources

Food security and the need for local production and availability of food has been identified,

as well as community- based solutions like community gardens.

The desire to live locally (live, work, play, shop) has been coming through strongly. This is

associated with increased resource costs, local jobs, a self-sufficient community, as well as

being associated with ‘local identity’ and community connectedness. Technology is seen to

facilitate this (eg working from home).

People anticipate greater flexible employment in the future including working from home,

family needs, also less job security/tenure.

There is an awareness of changes to manufacturing as Knox’s industrial base, and the need

to foster innovative industries.

The need for local employment has been identified.

The potential for an increase in the social and economic divide resulting from the increased

cost of living (cost of resources) has come through.



Governance

Many participants said that the community could build its own capacity by taking care of

themselves, taking responsibility, and taking care of their community. It was highlighted that

Council could enable this by linking existing groups and services providers and enabling

partnerships.

Community groups are concerned about the increasing level of compliance/regulation they

need to deal with; attracting and keeping volunteers; and access to facilities.

Sporting clubs see themselves as playing a community strengthening role.

The potential for creating hubs has come through strongly, including places to gather which

have been identified as particularly relevant for the multicultural community, young people,

and those wanting to access technology, etc.

Transparency and trust regarding local government has been a strong theme – that is, there

is a lack of trust of Council and a view that there needs to be greater transparency.

Importantly, it is the linkages that have been identified through the drivers of change that translate

the many interconnections and interdependencies of the issues.

While it may have begun as a way to create a sustainable and acceptable housing policy, Knox@50

has evolved into a conversation between Council and the community about the changes Knox is

facing and how they can work together to deal with those changes.

The simple act of engaging with the people of Knox in a transparent and authentic way has itself

improved the relationship between Council and community, as well as increasing the level of trust.

It has also sparked an understanding among some community members that community opinions

are diverse, sustainable decision-making is complex and Knox’s future is a responsibility they share

with Council.



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

Purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the Knox@50 Our City Our Future

Community Engagement Project that occurred throughout 2012.

1.2 Context

In October 2011 Council endorsed a comprehensive approach to Community Engagement around

Liveability. This project emerged as a result of major community and Council concern over rate of

change particularly around housing development in Activity Centres. In response to this Council

decided that a concerted effort to better inform the community about what is driving change in our

City and within our communities is required prior to making any further decisions about key strategic

policies such as the Housing Statement, a revised Community Vision, and the development of a

municipal City Plan. The large amount of information gathered in this engagement project will also

be used to inform other policies, plans and strategies.

The project occurred throughout 2012 and was the largest and most significant community

engagement project in Knox since the development of the previous vision. It required whole of

Council buy in, input and collaboration.

Objectives of the project included:

raise awareness in the community about the drivers of change facing the City of Knox to

2030 (e.g. population growth, changing household needs, neighbourhood character and

housing);

engage with diverse stakeholder and interest groups, places, needs, interests and

benefactors across the community about current issues and future aspirations for living in

Knox;

stimulate and encourage community debate and dialogue to inform Council’s future Vision

for Knox, and development of policy options.

Outcomes/benefits included:

increased awareness in the Knox community about the drivers of change facing the City to

2030;

Community capacity has been developed to enable genuine democratic engagement which

improves community understanding about key issues and drivers of change facing our City;

the partnership between community and Council has been strengthened through the

Knox@50engagement process to enable a shared Vision for the future of Knox.



Knox@50 sought to understand where we’ve come from, where we are now, and how that all helps

us to shape our future. It was an opportunity to balance the changing needs of the community and

businesses, and to celebrate and enhance what makes Knox so appealing and unique.

The data gathered from the community will help Council form the development of policy options

and further community engagement on a range of projects. Detailed outcomes from Knox@50 are

outlined in Part 3 of the report.

1.3 Past Engagement with the Knox Community

The Knox@50 project does not exist in isolation. What we have heard from the community

throughout 2012 through the Knox@50 process sits alongside other recenti, and more specific,

engagement activities undertaken by Council.

These were specific engagement activities aimed at specific parts of the community or specific

issues. Together with the messages received from the community through knox@50, they will also

be used to inform Council planning.

This section of the report provides a high level summary of the findings of key consultations

undertaken by Knox City Council over the last 18 months.

The Knox Gathering was a gathering of indigenous people with a connection to Knox, held on 6 May

2012. Attendees were asked to choose or make a card that showed what is important to them as an

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander with a connection to Knox:

my identity

belonging

family

those I love feeling happy

football and sports

our mob – having more events like this, target Knox people to be part of a Local Indigenous Network

having dreams

sport

our pride

my health

my family

connecting

our mob

feeling valued and making a contribution

The Knox City Council Multicultural Strategic Plan 2012-2017 consultation sought views from

targeted identified multicultural communities including skilled migrants and family migration (Indian,

Malaysian, Chinese-speaking communities); Afghani, Sudanese and Iranian Refugees; and

established ethnic communities, e.g. Dutch, Hungarian, and Polish.



Key issues identified include:

information, communication and engagement;

accessible and affordable public transport;

learning about cultures through a common language (English);

supporting new and established communities in Knox, including skilled migrants, access to

affordable housing, addressing disadvantage (including social isolation, lack of family

support, language difficulties, accessing services), enhancing wellbeing (including long-term

unemployment of skilled migrants, refugee trauma), and value and support multicultural

older people.

The consultation report notes that the Afghani and Sudanese refugee communities were particularly

difficult to reach. The report also notes that, anecdotally, there are Cambodian and Burmese

refugees working in Knox, who were not reached during the engagement. There was also limited

success in reaching Indian skilled migrants. The report suggests that further data be sought from

community contacts to overcome the gap.

Consultation for the Knox Liveable Streets Plan 2012-2022 and the Knox Open Space Plan 2011-

2022 took place concurrently during 2011. Three key themes emerged from the community

workshops that were held during this time:

a ‘Green and Leafy Knox’ was seen by the majority of participants as being very important

and of all the areas of consideration this was seen as the highest priority to achieve;

increasing the level of service provision was seen as important particularly in areas of

footpath connections, consistency of parks maintenance, amenity provisions such as seating

and toilets, the quality of the ‘treescapes’ and consistency around Council’s approach to

naturestrips;

attendees identified the importance of connecting the quality of open space provision to

increasing housing density.

Surveys were also conducted which found that the most common reasons people like their streets

are because their street is quiet, the trees/greenery and proximity to shops and neighbours. The

most common reasons people did not like their streets was due to speeding cars, Eucalyptus trees,

and a lack of native/indigenous vegetation.



Through community consultation for the Knox Community Safety Plan, undertaken in early 2012,

the community indentified the following as being their top safety concerns:

1 hoon driving;

2 anti-social behaviour;

3 vandalism;

4 insufficient street lighting at night;

5 graffiti.

The consultation for this plan also revealed that the community is experiencing the following issues:

young people - youth boredom, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of support, bullying (including

cyber bullying);

women - violence against women, safety in public places and the workplace, the difference

between men’s and women’s experience of safety;

public places and transport - transport interchanges and shopping centres due to the

prevalence of people “hanging around” (young people, drug affected people, etc); hoon

drivers and general speeding; safety along bike lanes and walking paths safety; increase in

trucks using Knox roads; the stigma surrounding certain areas self-perpetuating; negative

perceptions of safety compounding issues of safety; reluctance to use public transport after

dark;

families - young children at home alone when parents are working; family violence - a

prevalent, but hidden issue in Knox;

addiction – ‘culture of drinking’ prevalent in the community; alcohol and drug use in the

home compounding disadvantage; gambling (including online gambling);

health - mental health was identified as a growing community safety issue; young people

were felt to be particularly at risk;

environment - natural emergency events – floods, bushfire; damage due to trees (footpaths,

etc);

workplace issues - more than OHS - exploitation, abuse, harassment, stress; volunteer

organisations – safety responsibilities.



Consultation on the draft Knox Youth Plan was undertaken in early 2012. This consultation found

that the key theme areas of concern (and presenting issues/contributing factors) for young people

are:

support - bullying; employment; Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Queer; families; housing;

financial; building resilience; support programs; behaviour;

health - alcohol and drugs; mental health; sexual health; smoking; general health;

social activities - activities; sport; spaces; technology; perceptions of young people; arts;

cultural diversity - cultural issues including isolation; acceptance; and belonging. Cultural

engagement including social connections; understanding rights;

safety - crime; security; transport; people; general safety; cyber-safety; spaces and places;

education - schools; access to education; education opportunities; pressure (including peer,

academic and parental);

transport - public transport; roads; bike paths;

environment/open space - open spaces; built spaces; environment;

service provision - infrastructure; resourcing for services ; service delivery.

Consultation for the Municipal Early Years Plan 2011-2015 took place between October 2010 and

February 2011. Consultation activities focused on not only asking adults and professionals living and

working with children in the Knox community, but for the first time, a greater focus was also placed

on consulting with children and what sort of life and community they saw as important.

The following key themes were identified:

Individuals (adults and children) and families value strong, safe and connected communities

that have good access to appropriate services and facilities and enhance real and perceived

safety and security.

Need to build on, expand and strengthen existing collaborative partnerships and networking

opportunities.

There is a collective responsibility amongst private providers, not-for-profit organisations

and the public sector regarding enhancing access to early years services.

There is a strong service network that currently has certain gaps.

Existing and emerging issues include social and economic disadvantage, changing

demographic profile (social-economic and socio-demographic), demand for competing

financial and physical resources.



Need for access to information, knowledge and evidence in order to plan effectively for early

years services.

Need for ongoing skills transfer to build capacity for staff to respond to change.

Consultation for the Knox Arts and Cultural Plan was focussed in large part around the 2012 Knox

Festival. Community feedback identified a number of things not present in the draft, such as a

reference to the contribution the six local community newspapers make to the cultural wellbeing of

the city, and acknowledgement of the Council’s art collection. Interest in developing a strong and

well supported public art program was a popular response, as was support to find ways to identify,

support and celebrate the contribution made by individual artists, and not just groups, in the

community. In addition, respondents supported progressing the Knox Central Arts Centre and the

Ambleside Master Plan, and sought an increased level of support for community theatre groups and

artists.

The Planning Consultation Committee (PCC) offers a forum for applicants, supporters and objectors

of specific planning proposals to present their views and to explore opportunities to resolve issues,

in an informal and non-threatening setting.ii Councillors and officers attend meetings to manage the

process, facilitate outcomes and to learn more about the circumstances of a proposal and the views

of various stakeholders.

A review of PCC meeting notes from 2011 and 2012 shows that the most common concerns relating

to planning applications are:

amenity impacts including overlooking and overshadowing;

increased demand on existing infrastructure (particularly drainage);

carparking, traffic congestion and road safety;

waste collection issues;

appearance of buildings (architectural merit);

inadequate area for landscaping/site coverage/overdevelopment;

loss of neighbourhood character;

building height and bulk;

interruption of views;

vegetation removal;

increase in noise and pollution;

social issues (including increase in crime);

non-compliance with Rescode;



dwelling density and overcrowding;

impact on property values;

concerns about type of future residents.

In late 2011, a post-occupancy survey was sent to residents living in newly developed higher density

homes in Knox (61% townhouse, 36% villa, 1% apartment). Of those surveyed, 68% of people had

been living at their residence for 1-5 years.

For ‘factors influencing choice of current home’: 56% said ‘affordability’; 57% said ‘proximity to

shops’; 59% said ‘size of home’. The top two things that people would change about their home

were ‘more car parking’ and ‘more open space’.

The consistent themes for what people liked about their home were:

central and convenient location close to amenities;

size of the dwelling and outdoor space;

age of the dwelling (new, modern);

security, privacy and ‘peace and quiet’ (being away from the street).

Each year the Department of Community Planning and Development (DCPD) coordinates and

auspices the Community Satisfaction Survey throughout Victorian Local Government areas. The

main objectives of the survey are to assess the performance of councils (including Knox) across a

range of measures and to seek insight into ways to provide improved or more effective service

delivery.

In 2012 Knox City Council recorded an Overall Performance Index Score of 63. This is significantly

higher than the State-wide average for this measure of 60 and higher (although not significantly so)

than the average Index Score of 61 for the Outer Metropolitan group.

On other core performance measures (which can also be compared against all Councils State-wide

and in the Outer Metropolitan group) Knox City Council scored as follows:

76 for Customer Service

60 for Community Consultation and Engagement

59 for Advocacy

51 for Overall Council Direction



1.4 Timeframes

The Project was endorsed by Council in November 2011 and formally commenced in early 2013. The

A closing event to report findings and celebrate with the community was held in February 2013.

1.5 Engagement Methodology

Knox@50 was a highly devolved consultation process employing a diversity of techniques ranging

from vox-pops to dialogue groups and community forums. In addition to the traditional approach

which seeks to understand the aspirations of the community, the process through inquiry explored

the community’s key concerns for the future. The process asked through a series of questions the

community to consider the changes taking place to their family, their communities and places, and

begin to identify what was causing these changes. This was an important step to understanding the

sort of strategies required to enable our aspirational future and allows us to develop strategies

which specifically seek to influence the causes (or drivers) behind the changes we find threatening or

the ones we find to be positive and in so doing ensure that these ‘drivers’ work for our future rather

than against it.

The Community Engagement program aimed to:

inform, educate and raise awareness in the Knox community about the drivers of change

facing the City of Knox to 2030 (e.g. population growth, changing household needs),

specifically influences on liveability (including housing);

stimulate, enable and encourage community dialogue and debate about key issues and

drivers of change facing our City;

speak with a range of people representative of the broad demographics, locations, needs

and interests across the community about their future aspirations for living in Knox to 2030;

collect, analyse and prepare data to inform the Council projects outlined above (and

potentially others, where relevant), including working with the newly elected Council from

November 2012 to inform the development of Vision;

acknowledge and value stakeholder’s contribution to the planning process;

provide a strategic basis to develop and analyse future development scenarios for Knox; and

increase stakeholder confidence in the Council’s planning and engagement process by

adhering to Knox City Council’s engagement principles.

Specific stakeholder groups were identified (e.g. culturally and linguistically diverse groups, young

people, older people, general community) and provided with a range of ways to participate in the

project, geared towards their level of interest in the project and their capacity to participate. As

much as possible, forms of engagement which allowed in-depth discussion were used to engage

with stakeholders about the future of the City. The nature of the topic, i.e. the future of a city, is a



complex one and approaches which allow in-depth discussions were most appropriate to explore the

challenges and opportunities as well as a vision for the future - including potential ways of achieving

the vision. This qualitative approach was used in the first stage of the project in order to fully

understand the range of views across different stakeholders in the community.

After analysing the data from the qualitative approaches, the findings related to the future vision of

Knox were translated into a survey and tested with a random sample of 500 Knox residents. In this

way, the project captured both the depth and breadth of community views, including the capacity to

generalise some of the findings to the broader Knox population.

This project recognised the complex nature of interests and issues in the Knox community around

issues of managing growth and maintaining what is important in relation to the present and future

liveability of Knox. The Project sought to reinforce the importance of early community and

stakeholder input to establish clear and agreed values and aspirations to inform more detailed policy

development.

To ensure that we realise the opportunity ‘change’ brings while simultaneously managing the risk it

presents, Council decided that it was important that the community’s ‘visions’ for the future take

into account how ‘change’ impacts our ability to realise this future and therefore, what the key

drivers behind this change are. Once we understand what the key drivers of change are we can

identify the strategies required to influence these drivers so that they create the change we need.

These drivers, or challenges and opportunities, formed the basis of the discussion about the future

of Knox.

The introduction of ‘drivers of change’ was an important step in how we engaged with community

about issues affecting our City. Crucially, it ensured that we talked about the City as a dynamic and

forever changing place. This enabled conversations to be had about the changes affecting our City

and the types of responses, investment and interventions we need to influence these.

Five drivers of change were identified which will provide challenges and opportunities for the Knox

community in the future. These are:

1. Our Identity is shaped by people, places and events

2. Technology allows us to be connected, become more efficient and improve our quality of

life

3. Our community and businesses rely on Resources such as energy, water, food and people to

prosper

4. Our Population is getting older, is more mobile, reflects different ideas of ‘family’, and

household structures are changing

5. Good Governance is fundamental to a stable, inclusive, equitable and progressive society



To alert the community about these drivers, fact sheets and discussion papers were developed.

These were sent to residents’ homes; were provided at engagement activities; and were available

online. Questions and prompts were formulated to provoke discussion amongst the community

about the changes that were impacting them and their ability to realise the future they wanted. We

asked them what they felt were the key drivers behind these changes and in turn asked them how

we should influence these drivers.

By creating a platform for discussion about the drivers of change, Knox@50 has given the

community the tools to participate in the engagement in a meaningful way. It has provided a clear

context for the conversation between Council and the community about what the people of Knox

want for their future. They have also had the opportunity to consider their shared priorities. In so

doing, Council and the community are better placed to understand what is treasured most in Knox,

what should be enhanced and protected, and where compromises can be made.

1.6 Council’s Engagement Policy and Framework

The engagement approach included a combination of information provision, qualitative and

quantitative research and front-line community engagement opportunities. This approach is in line

with the Council Plan 2009-2013 commitment to 'partner and engage with and on behalf of our

community’ and ‘Embracing and demonstrating effective governance’. The project also upholds the

principles and purpose of the Knox community Engagement Policy and Framework.

The community engagement approach is consistent with many of the recommendations of the

recent review of Council’s Community Engagement Framework, including the objective endorsed by

Council on 28 June 2011 to “support well informed decision making, governance and active civic

participation and democracy”. The approach is also guided by the following objectives of the current

Knox Community Engagement Policy to:

enable the community to be better informed about Council issues, processes and decisions

which might affect them;

reduce misinformation and misconception;

develop stronger communities;

improve the relationship between Council and the Community;

develop trust and credibility both internally and externally;

help identify actual and potential problems/issues; and

support well informed decision making; good governance and active civic participation.



1.7 Governance

This significant engagement program was a joint initiative between City Futures Department and

Corporate Planning and Performance. The Project was lead by the two Managers of these areas,

supported by a cross organisational, multidisciplinary project team.

Council received regular briefings in the lead up to the launch of the project and during its delivery.

Executive Management team received monthly progress reports throughout the life of the project.

The Project via the Project Directors (Kim Rawlings, Manager City Futures and Kerryn Ellis, Manager

Corporate Planning and Performance) was guided by an internal Leadership Group made up of the

following senior officers:

Director City Development – Angelo Kourambas

Manager Community Wellbeing – Kathy Parton

Manager Youth Leisure & Cultural Services - David Blair

Manager Corporate Communications – Kath Oakley

Manager Sustainable Infrastructure – Craig Dinsdale

Manager Sustainability (former) – Trish Winterling

In October 2012 a Community Leadership Group was formed. Many members of this group had been

active participants throughout the engagement period for Knox@50 and were keen to continue to

stay involved. The purpose of this group is to help validate the findings and provide input into the

various ways in which the information and knowledge gained through this process can be used going

forward for both Council and the community.



2 ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

2.1 Community Forum

All members of the Knox community were invited to a full day Community Forum in August 2012 which was widely advertised as well as personal invitations sent out. An independent consultant was engaged to facilitate the forum and participants were involved in high level discussions about the future of our community.

A follow up Community Forum was held in February 2013 to provide an opportunity for community members, particularly those who had been involved in the Knox@50 process, to hear the findings of the project and learn how that information will make a difference. In light of the findings, participants provided input into the development of Council’s Vision and City Plan.

Events: 2 Participants: Forum 1 - 70 Forum 2 – 80

Timing: August 2012 & February 2013

2.2 Advisory Committees

Members of Knox Council’s advisory committees where invited to take part in one of two workshops. Participants were asked to identify the main challenges and opportunities that the Knox community faces based on the views of their committees and in light of the drivers of change. Participants were also asked about priorities and who should be involved in achieving them. Knox@50 staff also attended the Knox Multicultural Advisory Committee and Public Transport Consultative Committee separately.

Events: 4 Participants: 39

Timing: May & June 2012

2.3 Focus Groups

Various groups within the Knox community were involved in focus groups. Participants were introduced to the drivers of change and asked how they think these drivers will influence the Knox community; what we can do to make the most of this change; and who should be involved. Example of groups include: multicultural groups (Italian, Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan); disability groups; aged ; Indigenous, health & community services; sporting groups; faith groups; Council Wards; and environment.


Timing: July – November 2012



2.4 Knox Council Staff Workshops

Staff were briefed on the Knox@50 project and in groups were asked how the drivers of change will

influence Knox. Workshops were held at the Civic Centre and at the Operations Centre. A follow-up

workshop was held to discuss Council’s role in, and potential challenges and opportunities of topics

that emerged from the previous workshop. A workshop was also conducted specifically with

Customer Service staff.


Timing: September – October 2012

2.5 Business Forum

Engagement with local businesses was undertaken in a business forum. It was facilitated by an external consultant with the aim of gaining input into Council’s vision and future strategies.


Timing: September 2012

2.6 Vox Pops ‘Voice of the People’

Walk-up stalls were set up in over 30 locations (such as local shopping centres and community

facilities) around Knox and community members were asked what they like about Knox and what

they think could make it even better. Answers were either noted on butchers paper at the stall or

participants took a postcard to fill out.


Timing: June – September 2012

2.7 Dialogue Groups

Members of the community interested in holding conversations about the future of Knox with

friends, family or colleagues received training from the Knox@50 team and a kit which provided

support material. The training and kit informed them of the drivers of change and what questions to

ask. Once the conversations were held the notes were returned to the Knox@50 team. In addition,

two dialogue group sessions were held with Knox Council staff.


Timing: July – September 2012



2.8 Youth Engagement

Several consultations with young people were held including the Youth Council, high schools,

primary schools, Young Leaders Program and other youth groups. Participants were introduced to

the drivers of change and addressed the challenges and opportunities that they thought the drivers

might bring about.


Timing: August – October 2012

2.9 Partners Forum

Representatives from organisations around Knox that provide a service to the community in partnership with Council were invited to share their views on their partnerships with Council and how we can move ahead together in light of the drivers of change affecting our community.


Timing: October 2012

2.10 Foothills Community Care dinner

Foothills Community Care is a small community based organisation that holds community dinners for those in need. Three Knox@50 staff attended a Foothills Community Care dinner to have an informal chat with people who use this service.


Timing: September 2012

2.11 Online

Throughout Knox@50 a variety of online engagement methods were used provide diverse

opportunities for the community to engage in discussion.

Knox@50 Bang the Table Website: A total of 3428 people visited the website 14,379 times totalling

25,686 page views. 101 visitors registered. 695 visitors downloaded documents including fact sheets

and discussion papers a total of 5527 times. 1040 visitors downloaded videos a total of 1163 times.

195 visitors participated in polls. (Statistics correct as at 12 December 2012). Timing: July 2012 -

ongoing

Online Blog: People had the opportunity to respond to a total of seven questions that where posted

on the website. In total 15 people made 28 comments. Timing: July – November 2012



Online Surveys: A short survey based on each driver of change was available on the website. In total

13 people submitted 21 responses across the five surveys. Timing: July – November 2012

Facebook & Twitter: 120 Facebook and Twitter posts went out to 1500 subscribers. Timing: May

2012 – February 2013

2.12 Postcards

A postcard that asked people what they like about Knox and what they think could make it even

better was sent to all 60,000 residences in the municipality. The postcards were also distributed at

vox pops. 851 postcards were returned to Council.

Timing: July 2012

2.13 Community Leadership Group

Following an expression of interest process, Council endorsed the 14 nominated members of the

Knox@50 Community Leadership Group in October 2012. The purpose of the group is to:

Provide community and stakeholder input through various stages of the Knox@50 Project,

from October 2012 to December 2013;

Provide a representative voice of the social and demographic diversity of Knox;

Explore and understand the Drivers of Change impacting Knox; and

Help Council understand and interpret what it has heard from the community through the

Knox@50 engagement program and what this means for Council.


Timing: October 2012 – December 2013

2.14 Quantitative Survey

A telephone survey was conducted which reached 517 people. The survey covered some of the key themes that emerged through earlier engagement activities. An online version of the survey was completed by 184 people.


Timing: December 2012



2.15 Customer Service Phone Poll

The Customer Service team polled 1328 customers during the November polling campaign. Customers provided us with feedback about Knox@50, the campaign was great advertising for Knox@50 and 697 customers would like to receive further information about up and coming Knox@50 events.

Timing: November 2012

2.16 Knox Festival 2012

A stall at the Knox Festival was the soft launch for the Knox@50 project.


Timing: March 2012

2.17 Stringybark Festival 2012

The Knox@50 team ran a stall at Stringybark Festival. At the stall people were invited to take a seeded card, write a wish for the future on it and plant it in their garden. The plant species, Kunzea ericoides, was selected through consultation with Wurundjeri Elders. The seeds were collected locally and donated by the Knox Environment Society.


Timing: October 2012



3 ENGAGEMENT THEMES AND OUTCOMES

3.1 What are Drivers of Change and how have they been considered in the Knox@50 project?

Living in cities means living in changing places and for the first time in our history, more people live

in cities than not. Our cities are safer, healthier places to live with opportunities to find work, to get

a good education, to find good healthcare, and to play and be entertained.

The things which influence change are known as ‘drivers of change’, but could also be characterised

as our ‘key challenges’ and ‘key opportunities’. Some ‘drivers’ cause small or incremental change but

some are responsible for significant change and opportunity. They can have an impact on all aspects

of our community: the economy, the environment, our health, and our community connectedness.

We need to manage and respond to these ‘drivers of change’ so that they work for the communities

of Knox.

Five drivers of change have been identified which will provide challenges and opportunities for the

Knox community in the future. These have been used as the basis for conversations and engagement

with the community throughout the Knox@50 Community Engagement Project.

These are:

Our identity is shaped by people, places and events. How we identify with places, people and

experiences has major influence on the richness of our lives. Where we belong, the connections we

have in our communities, with our neighbours, the places, spaces, images and form of our Cities all

contribute to one’s ‘sense of belonging’.

Technology allows us to be connected, become more efficient and improve our quality of life. Many

of us use many different forms of technology everyday often without realising its impact until it fails

us. Two of the most important areas of technological advancement affecting cities are in the areas of

communications and health.

Our community and businesses rely on resources such as energy, water, food and people to prosper.

Resources are typically the things we use to make other things or to keep other things going. How

we manage resources will be both our biggest challenge, such as reducing our dependency on fossil

fuels, and opportunity, such as building new industries centred on renewable energy sources. One of

the most critical resources for our life and standard of living is ourselves. We need the skills,

education, and physical and mental health required to positively contribute to society.

Our population is getting older, is more mobile, reflects different ideas of ‘family’, and household

structures are changing. According to the United Nations, the world’s population is projected to pass

9 billion people before 2050 and then reach 10 billion by the end of the century.



Good governance is fundamental to a well functioning society. It is critical to helping manage daily

services, the health of our environment and economy to ensure that we have a sound basis upon

which to plan for the future. Good governance relies on two things: Representation and Decision

Making.

Of course there are many factors which can influence the progress, strength and health of

communities. These five drivers were developed through identifying the key elements that can

either pose a threat to or present an opportunity for achieving community wellbeing.



3.1.1. Identity

Identity is fundamental to our sense of self and sense of belonging. It is therefore a profound and

powerful driver of community, influencing the shape and complexion of our cities. Our identity and

how we identify with places, people and experiences has major influence on the richness of our

lives. The connections we have in our communities, with our neighbours, the places, spaces, images

and form of our Cities all contribute to ones ‘sense of belonging’.

But what form do these ‘identity challenges’ and competing values most commonly come in and can

they equally be seen as opportunities? The Identity discussion paper, prepared to inform the

Knox@50 Engagement Program identified three main forms of challenge to our identity including

physical appearance and actions (of people), built form, and events.

Key messages

Participants identified that local living, now and in the future, including the desire for living, working

and playing in the local area is highly valued. Some of the reasons for this include the desire to

maintain a village feel, as well as reducing travel times and fuel costs. This also supported ideas

around local food production and availability of local produce, enabling spaces for local connections,

be they informal or organised. Central to this idea is building on a strong community, through

strengthening connections, community safety, creating local jobs and innovation, and creating

opportunities for all ages of the community to remain local if they choose.

Many acknowledged that there is a need for a diversity of housing in Knox needed now and in the

future, in particular to accommodate the changing population and household structures. Key issues

that contribute to people’s acceptance of or resistance to different types of housing include whether

new housing fits in with the character of an area (look, feel and location), coupled with the quality

of design and its sensitivity to the surrounding area, and the availability of open space as density

increases.

While Knox is seen to be well served for sporting activities, a gap that has been identified is arts and

culture (notwithstanding the many events and festivals that Knox host). This is expressed in terms of

the availability of spaces and places, the potential for co-locating activity with existing spaces,

including the development of hubs that could contribute to developing this area.

Things that we value

The openness and country feel of Knox was highlighted as a significant component of the Knox

character, emphasising the importance of open space, delivered through large backyards, not just

formal open space. In many cases the protection of open spaces directly linked to the types of

development that would potentially threaten this aspect, suggesting that family housing (low

density, detached) and townhouses were acceptable, but not apartments or multi-level



developments in existing residential areas. These views are consistent with the desire for Knox to

maintain the existing family oriented community.

The inherent value of the Dandenong Ranges to local identity has come through strongly, both for its

views (to and from the City), access, and treed environment, which is consistent with the green and

leafy character of Knox.

Community connectedness has been identified in both a positive and negative light. The community

suggested that a key component of strengthening this is through the range of community events in

Knox which have been regarded as a positive aspect of living in the municipality. In particular,

multicultural groups see community events as a way to bring people together and improve

understanding.

Challenges

Many residents said that they moved to Knox for the open feel & that higher density development is

more suited to inner Melbourne and the issues that change brings such as moving to a more urban

landscape and character were identified. However, many respondents acknowledge that housing

diversity is needed, so long as the location and scale of development is directed to activity centres

and not existing residential areas. Issues such as traffic congestion, parking, design quality, and the

reduction of vegetation and canopy trees have been highlighted as significant issues arising from

increased density and were also seen as a major challenge.

Traffic congestion including issues surrounding a decrease of sufficient parking has been a common

issue, which stems from a range of sources such as increases in household size due to extended

families living together and children staying at home longer and the extra vehicles they have. Flow-

on effects of traffic congestion and parking include restricting traffic flow, access and road safety,

particularly for residential streets.

Community safety has been identified as a concern for some residents, where people said that they

felt unsafe in some areas. This is coupled with young people identifying that certain places have a

‘bad reputation’ and shame associated with this. This was often associated with transport hubs such

as train stations.

Many participants identified multiculturalism as an asset to the Knox community; however some

see it as a challenge/threat. Particular issues raised include the desire for different cultures to mix

and ‘fit in’.

Opportunities

Respondents’ value the village feel and consider Knox to be made up of a series of villages and feel

that this way of living locally would continue to grow into the future, including local access to

employment, housing, food, leisure, etc. Additionally, people felt that diminishing resources would



demand the community to be more reliant on local jobs, food and being able to walk to

shops/conveniences and other needs. Respondents anticipate that we will be doing more close to

home and use available land to grow food for locals (e.g. community gardens, rooftop gardens,

nature strips, community enterprises). There was a strong message that the development of

community hubs would help to strengthen the community and provide better access to services,

facilities and leisure, these include meeting places, co-location of services/functions.

The importance of community networking, local connections, community events, community

gardens and community gathering spaces were a consistent message that people felt contributes to

community strengthening. The linking of existing community groups/service providers and support

such as providing meeting spaces was seen as Council’s role as conduit/facilitator.



3.1.2. Population

According to the United Nations, the world’s population is projected to pass 9 billion people before

2050 and then reach 10 billion by the end of the century. There are a number of factors which will

drive this increase, most notably an increase in the overall birth rate and greater life expectancy due

to better health care and higher standards of living, particularly in developed countries.

But what will this increase mean for us and our cities? For one thing cities are expected to become

home to over 70% of the global populace by 2050 with most of the growth induced by increase birth

rates and life expectancy augmented by increasing migration rates.

In Australia 9 out of 10 people live in cities. The impact of increasing urbanisation will be immense. It

will affect how and where we live, work and recreate. It will have an impact on how we view

different cultures in our community, and how we support those in the community who are most

vulnerable. It will affect how we interact and value our environment and where we decide to

urbanise. It will impact the nature of economy and what we regard as wealth generation.

So that we ensure that ‘population change’ works for our place and communities we need to better

understand what aspects of population are the likely catalysts of the most significant change to our

society. These are considered to be age, migration, birth rate, and health. Notwithstanding there will

remain a significant proportion of our community that will be made up of families.

Key messages

A major focus of conversations with participants is the projected ageing population, highlighting

that it will require more jobs in aged services; new industries, and greater demand on services and

new types of housing. With more people ageing many in the community assumed we would be

working longer. This was seen to have implications on the volunteer base, but also that we need to

see older residents as a community resource and value what they can contribute such as skill

sharing, mentoring, and family care. The increasing need for housing for an ageing population has

been a common topic, including offering a range of housing options for people to age in place or

downsize. Coupled with these increased demand on services, young people are concerned about the

potential tax burden they might carry in the future to support the ageing population.

Changing household structures, ranging from lone households to extended family living, has been

raised. An increase in extended family living has been identified as having both economic (i.e. cost of

living) and cultural influences as our cultural mix changes. This is seen to be something that is

emerging now (with children living at home longer) and is also seen as the way of the future,

providing opportunities to care for older relatives and young children in working families, and

addressing housing affordability for young people. Ensuring family housing (i.e. large homes) was

available together with new forms of housing was seen as an important factor for catering for these

changing household structures.



The importance of the provision of public transport for the community, particularly older people,

young people and multicultural groups, has been a common and significant issue raised, and that

public transport contributes to helping prevent social isolation. Infrastructure improvements such as

building a rail link to Rowville and a tram to Knox City not surprisingly has been a consistent message

from residents, although some respondents were not in favour of pursuing a train to Rowville as it

may impact upon the green and leafy image, exacerbate the traffic situation and create noise,

pollution, and destruction of the current family environment. It was felt that it would also create

anti social behaviour and make the community unsafe.

Multicultural groups have expressed the need for services to support their needs such as access to

facilities (for meetings), support for elderly, and opportunities to share their culture through events.


The contribution that the multicultural community provide to the Knox community was highlighted

as a significant positive aspect to increasing acceptance and valuing difference.

The skills, knowledge and experiences of the older generation in Knox were seen as an important

resource for future generations.

Challenges

The need for growth in housing to accommodate the changing population and the needs of the

changing community over time was seen as a challenge for Knox. Downsizing and an ageing

population will create the need for smaller homes, and extended family requirements will encourage

flexible living arrangements including adjoining family dwellings, retrofitted house, modular homes

and compounds.

The ageing population has consistently been recognised as a challenging issue for the future.

Respondents throughout the project highlighted initiatives that provide for ageing residents as

critical for the ageing population. These relate to Council, business and community services, support

and facilities that enable our residents to live a happy, healthy and connected life in their later years.

In particular, people were concerned that transport accessibility for the aged, the need for more

jobs and skills in aged services; and an increase in medical services/facilities will provide future

challenges in terms of funding and delivery. It was also highlighted that while people may be living

longer, chronic disease may affect their quality of life.

Public transport access, location, and frequency was highlighted as an issue for the existing

population let alone the need to plan for a growing population, with increased traffic congestion

and limited parking adding to the frustration. A common reason people associate with traffic

congestion is an increase in population.



Concern was also raised about more pressure being placed on services for older people, young

people, community services, library, roads and health. Some residents envisage that while services

may be more personalised and tailored, they could cost more in the future.

Mental health has come through as a health concern in Knox with some groups in Knox more

vulnerable such as lone person households, which many consider may lead to social isolation issues.

Opportunities

Residents have generally recognised that the population of Knox is ageing and have identified the

potential implications and opportunities of this. This understanding provides opportunities for the

community to jointly share the responsibility for supporting the ageing through community capacity

building, increasing social inclusion, and community strengthening. It has also been recognised that

with an ageing population there is a wealth of knowledge, experience and wisdom that can be

harnessed by younger generations.

Alternative transport such as car share schemes, community busses, and other partnerships have

been identified as potential initiatives that could complement the public transport in Knox.



3.1.3. Technology

Technology has the capacity to bring about significant and profound change. Many of us use various

forms of technology everyday often without realising its impact until it fails us.

Arguably two of the most important areas of technological advancement affecting cities are in the

areas of communications and health.

Central to both are the advances in computing which are enabled by a vast amount of applications

which ensure they can assist us in everything from running our homes, cars and businesses to

alerting us when our favourite football team scores. Online communication technology has already

had a massive effect on how we communicate, meet people, consume entertainment and products,

and undertake business and financial transactions. The rate of change is greater than any other

generation has seen and having access to technology is fast becoming essential to being able to

operate in the world.

But while we continue to continually advance how we connect to each other, technology has had a

massive impact on our health. Everything from new medicines to new diagnostic tools, from lifestyle

equipment to the enabling of healthier environments means that we are living longer and therefore

putting pressure on an economy and environment which is trying to catch-up.

Key messages

The community is aware of the benefits that ever-improving communication technology brings such

as greater flexibility of employment and connections. However, the community is conscious of the

downsides particularly of social media, such as the potential for greater social isolation and young

people potentially losing face-to-face social skills, and experiencing online bullying.

Many in the community presume that technological changes will continue to rapidly occur and that

we need to harness these opportunities and respond to these changes.

Health technology was recognised as a significant contributor to the quality of life and life

expectancy we enjoy today. People consider this to continue to be an enabler in the future.


The physical and mental health of the Knox community has largely benefitted from technological

advances which was highlighted as a significant benefit to the liveability of respondents.

Respondents generally agreed that increases in access to communication technology contributed to

greater levels of access to information and knowledge, as well as increased connections within their

community. Many also value the relative ease at which they can shop, do their banking and do

business online.



Challenges

Some participants highlighted the potential for the dominance of communication technology to

cause an increase in isolation, particularly for the ageing population who feel that they may be

missing out on information, knowledge and services because of their lack of skills or capacity to

keep up with changing technology. This is heightened by the premise that there will be an increase

in online communication including socialising, shopping, working, service provision (e.g. education,

medical advice) in the future. Additionally, the increasing social and economic divide amongst the

community has been identified, where people do not have access to or the skills to use technology,

as we become more reliant on communication technology.

Young people in particular have identified cyber-safety as a major concern for the appropriate use

of communication technology.

There is an awareness of the constant upgrading of technology (computers, phones, TVs, etc) and

that this leads to excessive waste generation and is not sustainable.

Opportunities

Many in the community felt that innovative responses will help us to meet the challenges ahead of

us, particularly the challenge of resource shortages, particularly with increases in technology to

respond to environmental pressures, renewable energy development and different types of

industry.

Many respondents felt that an increase in population and technology will both enable and require

more flexible working hours and venues. There will be a growth in part-time and casual jobs, more

service-based employment, specialist jobs and telecommuting.



3.1.4. Resources

Resources are typically the things we use to make other things or to keep other things going. They

are in every respect the most fundamental of building blocks when it comes to our society and when

these change in complexion they typically end up changing our society in the most profound of ways.

This makes them one of life’s strategic influences and how we manage them going forward provides

us with both our biggest challenges, such as reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, and

opportunities, such as building new industries centred on renewable energy sources. Everything

from rising food and fuel prices, through to increases in the cost of manufactured goods, diminishing

habitats for many species and ecosystems through to arguably the most contentious global issue

today, a changing climate.

But while we often associate resources with those that occur naturally, it’s worth noting that one of

the most critical resources to our life and standard of living is ourselves. If we as individuals don’t

have the skills or education, the physical and mental health required to contribute to society then

our communities suffer.

In this context there are two key resource types which profoundly affect our lives and which we have

to manage going forward: Natural Resources – fossil fuels, water, food, waste, land; and Human

Resources – education/skills, health.

Key messages

The desire to live locally (live, work, play, shop) came through as a strong theme throughout the

project. This is associated with decreased natural resource availability and increased costs, local

jobs, a self-sufficient community, as well as being associated with ‘local identity’ and community

connectedness. Technology is seen to facilitate this (e.g. working from home). Food security and the

need for local production and availability of food has been identified, as well as community based

solutions such as community gardens.

There was an acceptance by many of the respondents that the current rate of resource consumption

is unsustainable and that Council needs to be a leader in this area, providing information and tools

for improving in this area. It was suggested that Council should focus on developing and supporting

local innovative (green) industries and local employment with young people highlighting the

potential challenges around their future employment prospects, particularly in light of fast-paced

technological advancement.

It was highlighted that Knox should continue to protect, nurture, and ingrain its strong green

environmental identity; as there is a concern there is a risk of this identity being quickly eroded by

new residents to the area who may not share the same values. More recognition of the good

environmental programs currently in Knox was seen by many as a way to strengthen this, such as

Gardens for Wildlife, Knox Park Primary Garden project, Bayswater West Community Hub project,

Stringybark festival, and Knox festival.



People anticipate greater flexible employment in the future including working from home, family

needs, also less job security/tenure. There is an awareness of changes to manufacturing as Knox’s

industrial base, and the need to foster innovative industries, particularly for the impending

resources decline.


The importance of the provision of and access to education in Knox, from schools, TAFE, University,

skills training, and lifelong learning was a key message. Importantly, access, affordability, innovation

and advances in knowledge and technology, particularly in the fast-paced environment we inhabit

were seen as crucial for the continued prosperity and liveability of the Knox community.

The value of public transport and alternatives to the current car-based society in which we currently

live were seen as an important transition, given the increasing energy costs.

Leisure activities including sports, events, socialising and bike paths have been identified as a major

positive aspect of Knox. The importance of having the opportunity to shop both locally and higher

order complexes (such as Knox City Shopping Centre) was a consistent theme.

The natural environment has consistently been identified as a valuable attribute of Knox including

the ongoing protection, enhancement and priority for the community.

Challenges

The need for more public transport infrastructure has been a strong and consistent theme, although

some realise the reality that government will never have the resources available to be able to

provide this on their own. The community also identified that the quality of existing public transport

services need to be improved, notwithstanding the acute need for improved services to cope with

anticipated demand. This is supported by some who believe the need to switch to alternative fuels

for cars is a priority.

Participants highlighted the potential for an increase in the social and economic divide resulting

from the increased cost of living through the increasing cost of resources, and the increase in the

casual workforce will create greater pressure.

Conversations have centred mainly around the impacts of decreasing non-renewable fuel supplies

on society. Many believe that we will meet this challenge by living locally and simply and increasing

our use of renewable fuel sources. Likewise, many also believe there will also be a shift towards local

food production, although some say we will be eating more highly manufactured and pre-packaged

food in the future. There is also some concern about the impacts of changing weather patterns on

food production.



There is a feeling that there will be less private open space in the future which will place more

importance on preserving the existing public open space for meeting, community gardens, health

benefits and maintain the balance between urban/rural living.

Opportunities

While the community has praised the existing network of bike paths, people have identified more

opportunities to better link within Knox’s existing network and the promotion of this infrastructure

needing to be enhanced. In addition, to help ease increasing fuel costs, bike share and car share

systems were proposed. Practical approaches to improvements to bus services have also been

highlighted. For example smaller buses that run more frequently, especially through neighbourhood

streets was suggested as some busses are often half empty and run infrequently.

Changes in society will mean a shift in the types of industries we need or can sustain. For example,

less car manufacturing and more aged care and it was seen as important to harness these

opportunities in Knox to ensure job opportunities in the future. A focus on more recycling

opportunities together with greater information and education in the future was seen as an

opportunity to both reduce waste and preserve resources. It was suggested that we could better

connect business, education and the community and consider integrated pathways from learning to

working.

There has been a consistent message that there are opportunities for improved community

resources, with a greater focus on sharing resources and facilities. Community hubs have been

suggested as a potential mechanism for achieving this. People also identified a rise in shared and

intergenerational housing as a potential outcome due to the increased costs of resources.

Some respondents felt that mental health issues are significant and of concern in Knox and

suggested that access to open space and a connection to nature can assist with this.



3.1.5. Governance

Good governance is fundamental to a well functioning society. It is critical to helping manage daily

services, the health of our environment and economy to ensure that we have a sound basis upon

which to plan for the future. Historically, government has always been a key driver and influencer of

how our society takes shape. The modern ‘marketplace’, systems of education, modern health care,

and the laws by which we live have for better or worse, been created by government.

It must be said, however, that the influence of government is not all encompassing, particularly in

Western democracies. Government interacts with the economy in several ways. Despite the

importance of government, factors beyond it such as ‘market forces’ are still a major factor in how

our cities and communities operate. Striving for ‘good government’ is an ongoing and constant

process.

A central challenge for governments is that they are tasked with balancing competing needs and

aspirations and with providing for the greater good of the community. This, in itself, may lead to a

dissatisfaction and distrust of government, as no-one ever gets everything they want from those

who represent them. This provides great challenges for decision makers.

Good governance relies on two things to work in harmony, with transparency and accountability:

Representation – are we well represented, who speaks for us, can I represent my community?

Decision Making - how do I get involved, have I been listened to, what does accountability look like?

Governance in this context does not just refer to corporate of public sector governance; the concept

of community governance is an emerging and important consideration. Community Governance

refers to the arrangements in place where by the community has direct influence over community

management and decision making, decisions are made by, with or on behalf of the community by

community.

This form of governance can include for example sporting club committees, local committees of

management around locations or services, chambers or traders associations.

Key messages

There was an emphasis on the direction, responsibilities and influence of governments at all levels

and the challenges and opportunities that this creates. There was consistent feedback that the

community have a desire to be more effective and enabled to influence decisions that affect them

and a desire for new forms of governance that enable this.



A strong message was that people need to be heard and have their ideas taken seriously and

implemented, not just tokenism. This was especially clear for young people who felt that they

weren’t valued in the political sphere. Although there were mechanisms for engaging young people

through the Council, they felt that it was just for politicians to demonstrate that they were being

engaged, rather than taking their opinions seriously. This correlates with the opinion that there is a

broader lack of trust of Council and a view that there needs to be greater transparency regarding

local government.

The overwhelming response from respondents highlighted the need for Council to be active in the

promotion and education of a range of issues such as more efficient resource use and sustainability,

public transport improvements and supporting the ageing population through the provision of

services, support and opportunities to participate in their community and to stay connected to

advances in technology.

Participants identified good governance to include people that you have access to; who keep you

informed; who are able to listen; are always providing feedback and reasons as to why decisions are

made; include consistency in the information being communicated; and have opportunities for

informal get togethers for people to be relaxed and talk together.


Overwhelmingly the ability to have the opportunity to actively engage in the many service areas that

Council are involved in was a consistent message. This included providing opportunities to have a say

about a variety of issues, be it in a informal or formal way.

The community highlighted the strong capacity of individuals and groups within Knox to care for

their community and not rely on Council or government to provide the support, services or events

on their own. The role of Council was generally positive with many respondents happy for Council to

provide linkages and support for community initiatives without them needing to take responsibility

or lead.

Challenges

The different levels of government and their varying responsibilities were seen as confusing and

inefficient, particularly regarding legislation and regulation. In particular, Community groups are

concerned about the increasing level of compliance and regulation they need to deal with;

attracting and keeping volunteers; and access to flexible and affordable facilities.

People generally agree that it is governments’ responsibility to create legislation to curb underlying

epidemics and issues in our society and the importance of Council’s role in fostering community-

building initiatives. This is curbed by concerns about resources available to government to fund

important initiatives now and in the future.



Opportunities

Many participants stated that the community could build its own capacity by taking care of

themselves, taking responsibility, and taking care of their community. It was highlighted that

Council’s could enable this by linking existing groups and services providers and enabling

partnerships. Additionally, sporting clubs see themselves as playing a community strengthening role.

The potential for creating hubs has come through strongly, including providing places to gather

which have been identified as particularly relevant for the multicultural community, young people,

and those wanting to access technology, etc.



4 TESTING AND VALIDATION

4.1 Introduction

After collecting data from a large number of diverse groups, agencies and individuals, the data was

analysed. In order to test and validate what the main themes emerging from the data, two more

approaches were used: a random, representative survey, and a Community Forum.

The survey translated the results from the qualitative approaches for the purposes of understanding

the extent to which the results were reflected in the broader community. Although nearly 6000

people took part in the qualitative approaches, the nature of self-selection had the potential to skew

the results. The survey, with a random and appropriately sized sample (517 people), tested the

ideas that were generated in the qualitative approaches in a way that allowed the findings to be

generalised to Knox’s resident population.

The Community Forum presented the major findings back to community members and asked them

to verify whether they felt they were right, including whether there were any gaps or if some things

had been wrongly prioritised.

A survey was conducted by Knox Council Customer Services to determine what level of awareness

there was of the Knox@50 project. A short number of questions were asked to random callers who

had contacted Council on a matter not relating to the project.

In addition, feedback forms were distributed at a number of engagement activities to help us

measure the effectiveness of the project.

4.2 Knox@50 Survey

4.2.1. What the survey asked

The Knox@50 survey asked questions about the following topics:

Country/city lifestyle;

Housing diversity;

Public transport;

Living local;

Community Strengthening;

Health & wellbeing.



4.2.2. Demographics of respondents

517 people participated in the telephone survey. 64% were women. 40% were aged between 50-69

and 28% were aged 70 or older. 69% of respondents were born in Australia. 60% have lived in Knox

for 20 or more years and 20% for between 10 and 20 years. 83% of respondents were homeowners

and 81% intend to stay in the same house for the next 5 years.

184 people completed the online survey (however, were not required to answer every question).

60% of respondents were women. 50% of respondents were aged 30-49 and 36% were aged 50-69.

71% were born in Australia and 46% have lived in Knox for 20 or more years. 90% were homeowners

and 74% intend to stay in the same house for the next 5 years.

4.2.3. Summary of Responses

Results from the survey are considered to validate the key findings of the qualitative analysis, in

terms of broad issues that are important to the community. In summary:

Around two thirds of respondents feel that it is important or very important to them that

the area they live in has a ‘country feeling close to the city’.

A similar number of respondents believe that having a variety of housing options is

important or very important for the Knox community. However, fewer people see this as

important for themselves (40-48%).

For the vast majority (90-93%), the car is their main form of travel. There was a relatively

even split of opinions regarding the sufficiency of public transport in Knox. Between a half

and a third of respondents (phone and online respectively) disagree or strongly disagree that

public transport in Knox is sufficient for the needs of the community. 38-47% disagree that it

is sufficient for their own needs.

Most participants (91%) said that ‘living local’ is important or very important to them.

A majority of respondents (76%) said that feeling part of the community is important to

them.

These issues are discussed further below:

Country/city feeling

52% of participants in the telephone survey agree or strongly agree that Knox has a country feeling

close to the city. 64% of respondents feel that it is important or very important to them that where

they live has this country feeling. In terms of what creates a ‘country feeling close to the city’, 84% of

respondent said that ‘trees and vegetation’ were important or very important to them; 79% said

birds and wildlife were important or very important; 85% said access to parks and open spaces was

important or very important; and 74% said views of the Dandenong Ranges were important or very

important.



Of the online respondents, 47% of respondents agree or strongly agree that ‘Knox has a country

feeling close to the city’. 63% agree or strongly agree that it is important that where they live has

this country/city feel. In terms of what creates a ‘country feeling close to the city’, 86% of

respondent said that ‘trees and vegetation’ were important or very important to them; 78% said

birds and wildlife were important or very important; 83% said access to parks and open spaces was

important or very important; and 74% said views of the Dandenong Ranges were important or very

important.

Housing diversity

Of the telephone survey respondents, 66% either agree or strongly agree that having a variety of

housing options in Knox is important for the community. 48% of respondents either agree or

strongly agree that having a variety of housing options in Knox is important for themselves. 89% of

respondents agree or strongly agree that it is important that units and apartments are designed to

fit with the surrounding area. 73% agree or strongly agree that building units and apartments impact

trees and vegetation and 72% agree or strongly agree that units and apartments impact on traffic

flow and parking. 76% agree or strongly agree that it is important to have housing options for people

to downsize and remain in the same area if they want to.

Of the online respondents, 68% either agree or strongly agree that having a variety of housing

options in Knox is important for the community. 40% of respondents either agree or strongly agree

that having a variety of housing options in Knox is important for themselves.

83% of respondents agree or strongly agree that it is important that units and apartments are

designed to fit with the surrounding area. 65% of respondents agree or strongly agree that units and

apartments should only be built close to shopping and business precincts. 75% agree or strongly

agree that building units and apartments impacts on traffic flow and parking, with 61% agreeing or

strongly agreeing that units and apartments impact trees and vegetation. 69% agree or strongly

agree that it is important to have housing options for people to downsize and remain in the area.

Transport

90% of telephone survey respondents specified ‘car’ as their main mode of transport. The second

two modes were bus (10%) and walking (8%). The majority of respondents to the telephone survey

either never (38%) or rarely use public transport (less than once a month 31%).

When asked why they don’t use public transport more often, 41% of respondents said that they

prefer the flexibility of driving/cycling/walking. Respondents were given the option to provide

another reason, other than those provided in the survey. 32% of respondents gave an ‘other’ reason.

These responses generally related to: inconvenience; not needing to use public transport; concern

about the ticketing system; needing to use a car for work (e.g. tradespeople).



For people who do use public transport (86 people answered this question), 35% use it for regular

leisure activities; 30% for travelling to work, school or university; and 28% for running errands such

as shopping.

47% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree that public transport in Knox is sufficient for the

needs of the community. 38% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree that public transport is

sufficient for their own needs, whereas 47% agree or strongly agree that it is sufficient for their

needs.

When asked what would best meet the needs of the local community, 39% said a train to Rowville

and 31% said a tram line to Knox City.

93% of online respondents specified ‘car’ as their main mode of transport. The second two modes

were walking (22%) and train (20%). The majority of respondents either never use public transport

(27%) or do so less than once a month (33%). For people who do use public transport, 86% use it to

travel to work, school or university.

When asked why they don’t use public transport more often, 50% of respondents said ‘it takes too

long’ and 48% said ‘public transport doesn’t take me where I want to go’. The third most common

reason (34%) was that ‘I prefer the flexibility of driving/walking/cycling’. 66% of respondents

disagree or strongly disagree that public transport in Knox is sufficient for the needs of the

community. 47% disagree or strongly disagree that it is sufficient for their own needs.

When asked what would best meet the needs of the local community, 35% said a train to Rowville

and 25% said a tram line to Knox City.

Living Local

The survey defined the concept of ‘living local’ as having access to everyday facilities and services in

the local area, including working, studying, playing and shopping close to home, as well as having

access to nearby entertainment and medical services.

When asked in the telephone survey, 91% of respondents say that living ‘living local’ is important or

very important to them. 95% of respondents said that a feeling of safety is an important or very

important benefit of living local. 88% said that supporting local business was an important or very

important benefit and 80% said that saving time on travelling was either important or very

important.

Of the online respondents, 83% of respondents say that living ‘living local’ is important or very

important. 84% of respondents said that supporting local businesses is an important or very

important benefit of living locally. 83% said that saving time on travelling is an important or very

important benefit. 78% said that a feeling of safety is an important or very important benefit of living

locally.



Community Strengthening

75% of telephone survey respondents feel part of their local community. 70% of respondents

expressed that feeling part of their community was important or very important. The three top

factors that people said made them feel part of the community are ‘shopping in the local area’

(95%); ‘living near family and friends’ (80%); and ‘reading the local newspaper’ (81%).

67% of online respondents state that they feel part of their local community. 76% expressed that

feeling part of their community was important or very important to them. The three top factors that

people said made them feel part of the community are ‘shopping in the local area’ (85%); ‘living near

family and friends’ (67%); and ‘involvement with local groups – community, sporting, arts or church’

(61%).

4.3 Community Forum No.2

A Community Forum was held in February 2013 to report back on the findings gathered during the

project, and position Council and the community for wider engagement around the development of

the Vision and City Plan.

Some participants found it interesting there was such an emphasis on ‘local living’ and some were

surprised by the significant demographic changes occurring, as well as the lack of post secondary

qualifications within Knox. Others found there to be no surprises in the findings and agreed these

were all very important issues that needed to be addressed.

Many participants spoke of being concerned with the lack of public transport and reliance on cars in

Knox, the high incidence of mental health issues, and Knox’s ageing population. While some felt

more emphasis could have been placed on the environment, renewable energy, extreme weather

conditions, and children and young people.

Generally, participants recognised the need for change in housing structure/design but were

concerned with how this would be achieved, and the implications of ‘high density’ living including

traffic/parking in local streets and neighbourhood character.

Overall, many participants were impressed by the level of participation in Knox@50 and were

grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a project. Some were surprised that more people

did not take up the opportunity to become involved, in particular, young people and their noticeable

absence at the Forum.



4.4 Customer Service Phone Poll

In November 2012 The Customer Services Department asked 1328 of Knox customers a few

questions to provide feedback about Knox@50. The following provides a summary of what we

heard:

from 1328 customers polled 226 had previously heard about Knox@50. 1102 Customers

have now heard about Knox@50;

the most popular way our customers have heard about Knox@50 was through advertising in

the Knox Leader;

postcard letter box drop and word of mouth also proving to be the most popular methods

the public heard about Knox@50;

38 people had participated in a Knox@50 activity;

738 people (55%) of people were happy to be added to the Knox@50 mailing list.

4.5 Feedback Forms

The Community Forums held in August 2012 and February 2013 engaged a total of 150 people. The

results provided valuable insight into our approach to community engagement and the tools we

used to support it.

Community Forum No. 1 – August 2012

Of the 70 participant, 50 provided feedback. 78% of participants felt that information provided to

them prior to the forum was either excellent or good. 96% of participants felt that the opportunity

to participate with other community members was either excellent or good. When asked about their

knowledge of the drivers of change affecting Knox, 48% of participants had little or no knowledge,

36% had a medium extent and only 6% a large extent. Following the forum, participant’s knowledge

of the drivers of change increased with 84% reporting a large or medium increase in knowledge.

Overall, 74% of participants rated the forum to be excellent and 14% good.

Community Forum No. 2 – February 2013

Of the 80 participants, 59 provided feedback. 90% of participants felt that the opportunity to talk

with other participants was either excellent or good. 93% of participants felt that at the forum they

had an opportunity to be heard, together with 83% of participants feeling that they had either a

large or medium say on issues important to Knox. Overall, 100% of participants felt that the Forum

was either excellent or good.



APPENDICES



Appendix 1 List of Vox Pops

Location Date Time Number of

people engaged

Ferntree Gully Library 1-Jun-12 1.30 – 3.30pm 55

Boronia Library 2-Jun-12 11am – 1pm 42

Ferntree Gully Arts Centre 3-Jun-12 3 – 6pm 40

The Basin Shops 7-Jun-12 12 – 2pm 42

Knox Library 8-Jun-12 11am – 2pm 85

Scoresby Village 13-Jun-12 3.30 – 5.30pm 52

Knoxfield 14-Jun-12 12pm – 2pm 51

Mountain Gate Shopping Centre 15-Jun-12 12.30 – 2.30pm 42

Studfield 22-Jun-12 12pm – 2pm 53

Boronia Junction 23-Jun-12 10am – 1pm 42

Woolworths Ferntree Gully 29-Jun-12 3.30 – 5.30pm 17

Maxi Foods Upper Ferntree Gully 30-Jun-12 10am – 12pm 72

Knox City Shopping Centre 3-Jul-12 10am – 3pm 371

Bunnings Scoresby 8-Jul-12 10am – 12pm 40

Alchester Village 12-Jul-12 3 – 5pm 32

Wantirna Mall 14-Jul-12 9.30 – 11.30am 88

Mountain High Bayswater 18-Jul-12 2 – 4pm 36

City Life Church 21-Jul-12 5.15 – 6.15pm 217

Swinburne University 24-Jul-12 11am – 1pm 152

Rowville Community Centre 25-Jul-12 9 – 11am 49

Upper Ferntree Gully Station 26-Jul-12 6.30 – 8.30am 218

Kmart Dorset Square 3-Aug-12 9.30 – 11.30am 122



Location Date Time Number of

people engaged

Rowville Library 4-Aug-12 9.30 - 11.30am 117

Knox Leisure Works 8-Aug-12 8.30 – 10.30am 27

Ferntree Gully Auskick (Dorset Park) 11-Aug-12 9 – 11am 30

Knox Ozone 12-Aug-12 11.30am – 1.30pm 66

Wellington Village 15-Aug-12 10am – 12pm 41

Ferntree Gully Station 16-Aug-12 6.30 – 8.30am 321

Boronia IGA 24-Aug-12 10 – 11.30am 5

Business women’s breakfast 30-Aug-12 8.30 – 9.30am 80

Rowville Lakes 30-Aug-12 4 – 6pm 57

Boronia village 31-Aug-12 9 – 11am 42

Stud Park 1-Sep-12 10am – 4pm 257

Boronia Train Station 6-Sep-12 6.30 – 8.30am 304

Knox United Soccer Club Presentation Day

16-Sep-12 10am - 1.30pm 63

Eildon Park Tennis Club 30-Sep-12 8.30 – 11.30am 27



Appendix 2 Focus Groups

Group Location Date Time Number of participants

Dobson Ward residents

Mountain District Learning Centre – Ferntree Gully

26-Jul-12 7 – 8.30pm 6

Friberg Ward residents

VCAMM Innovation Centre

1-Aug-12 7 – 8.30pm 7

Chinese residents Knox Library 6-Aug-12 2 – 3pm 30

Collier Ward Residents

Hungarian Community Centre – Wantirna

9-Aug-12 7 – 8.30pm 1

Chinese residents Rowville Library 9-Aug-12 10.30am – 12pm 35

Knox Interfaith Network (KIN)

Residence of KIN secretary in Rowville

20-Aug-12 7.45 – 8.30pm 5

Sri Lankan residents

Knox Civic Centre 24-Aug-12 7 – 9pm 17

Friday morning social group

Rowville District Neighbourhood House

31-Aug-12 11am – 12pm 14

Baird/Chandler Ward residents


4-Sep-12 7 – 8.30pm 6

Mountain District Learning Centre staff and community

Mountain District Learning Centre

6-Sep-12 2 – 3.30pm 10

Knox residents involved in environmental initiatives


13-Sep-12 4.30 – 6pm 7

Wurundjeri Council Abbottsford Convent 14-Sep-12 2 – 3.30pm 5

Indian residents Knox Civic Centre 16-Sep-12 3 – 5pm 7

Bayswater West residents

Bayswater West Primary School

17-Sep-12 10am – 12pm 9

Rowville Junior Football and Eildon Park Cricket Club Committee members

Eildon Park, Rowville 19-Sep-12 7.30 – 9pm 5

City Life Church members

City Life Church 19-Sep-12 7 – 8.30pm 10




Clovelly Cottage residents, staff, family

Clovelly Cottage nursing home

20-Sep-12 1.30 – 2.30pm 5

Glengollan Retirement Village residents

Glengollan Retirement Village

26-Sep-12 2 – 3.30pm 9

Knox Community Health Centre staff

Knox Community Health Centre

3-Oct-12 3 – 4.30pm 9

Knox Athletics Club Committee members

Knox Athletics Club 3-Oct-12 7.30 – 8.30pm 4

Italian residents Italian Club 18-Oct-12 1.30 – 3.30pm 55

Scoresby playgroup mothers

Scoresby West playgroup

23-Oct-12 10.45 – 11.45am 4

Scope clients and staff

Scope 23-Oct-12 2 – 3pm 15

U3A members U3A 30-Oct-12 1 – 2.30pm 6

Knox Community Health Centre clients

Knox Community Health Centre Wantirna

1-Nov-12 1 – 2.30pm 10

Ferntree Gully Junior Football Club Committee members

Ferntree Gully Junior Football Club

12-Nov-12 7 – 7.30pm 18

Martin Luther Homes reisdents

Martin Luther Homes 12-Nov-12 1 – 3pm 13

CWA Boronia members

CWA hall, Boronia 14-Nov-12 12.30 – 2pm 13

Certificate III Community Services Students and Coonara Community House Staff

Coonara Community House

16-Nov-12 12 – 1.30pm 9



Appendix 3 Youth Engagement


Young Leaders (August)

Knox Civic Centre 8-Aug-12 9 – 10am 28

Youth Council and Youth Advisory Committee

Knox Civic Centre 15-Aug-12 6.30 – 7.30pm 12

Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School students in grade 5/6

Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School

15-Aug-12 2.30 – 3.30pm 26

Young Leaders (September)

Knox Civic Centre 5-Sep-12 9 – 10am 38

Bayswater Secondary College Students aged 13 to 19

Bayswater Secondary College

12-Oct-12 1.15 – 2.15pm 19

Upper Ferntree Gully Scouts aged 10 to 20

Ferntree Gully Scout Hall 11-Oct-12 7 – 8.30pm 18

Karoo Primary School students, 11 to 12 years old

Karoo Primary School 15-Oct-12 2.30 – 3.30pm 24

Lysterfield Mosque Young Women’s Group, 3 participants under 25 yrs, 5 older than 25yrs

Lysterfield Mosque Hall 18-Oct-12 7 – 9.30pm 8

Upper Ferntree Gully Venturers aged 15 to 18 years

Ferntree Gully Scout Hall 19-Oct-12 7.30 – 9.00pm 7

The Knox School students aged 8 to 15 years

The Knox School 29-Oct-12 9 – 10am 24



Appendix 4 Dialogue Groups

Group Date Number of participants

(including facilitator)

Knox City Council Staff that live in Knox 17-Jul-12 8

Staff at St Simons Primary School Rowville 23-Jul-12 7

Group of residents (friends/family) 24-Jul-12 8

Students of English as a Second Language at Boronia Library

26-Jul-12 16

Knox City Council Staff that live in Knox 31-Jul-12 8

Family members at dinner 1-Aug-12 11

Community of Christ 5-Aug-12 6

Villa Maria Gateway Wantirna 9-Aug-12 11

Wantirna Christian Community Church 16-Aug-12 10

Group of residents (friends/family) – Ferntree Gully

16-Aug-12 8

The Basin Community House clients 17-Aug-12 6

Group of residents (friends) - Ferntree Gully 22-Aug-12 4

Friday Night Social Project – Rowville Community Centre

24-Aug-12 10

New Migrants Swinburne TAFE group 1 29-Aug-12 6



Group of residents (friends) - Bayswater 2-Sep-12 6

Community of Christ - bereaved partners support program

4-Sep-12 4

Group of residents (friends) - - Bayswater 5-Sep-12 7

Group of residents (friends) – Upper Ferntree Gully

7-Sep-12 5

Wantirna Christian Community Church Youth Group

16-Sep-12 11

Singaporean group 18-Sep-12 7

Villa Maria - Carinya Respite, Lysterfield Aug 12 3

Villa Maria - Rehabilitation Centre Wantirna Aug 12 3

Villa Maria - White Road Planned Activity Centre Aug 12 10

Villa Maria - Eastern Community Services Staff Aug 12 6



Appendix 5 Advertising and Mailouts

Newspaper display advertisements were placed in the Knox Leader and Knox Weekly newspapers

informing readers about the Knox@50 project and how to get involved. The ads ran for a total of 12

weeks between June and September.

The Knox@50 Bang the Table website introduced people to the project, informed them of upcoming

events/activities and included blogs, surveys and further reading.

Messages on hold June to September: Callers to Knox City Council who were placed on hold heard a

recorded message informing them about the Knox@50 project and how to get involved. The

message was refreshed on a monthly basis between June and September 2012. The message was

heard by 40,000 callers.

Posters were displayed in all major retail areas and some minor retail locations around the

municipality. The poster informed people about the project and directed them to the Knox@50

website or Council’s Customer Service phone number for further information. The poster was

translated into Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese.

Postcards

Postcards were sent to 60,000 households in Knox both informing people about the project

and asking what they like about Knox and what they think could make it even better. The

postcards were reply paid.

Dialogue Groups

Ten copies of a flyer advertising dialogue groups were sent to 454 community organisations.

Focus Groups

2000 invitations to ward based focus groups were sent to a random selection of residents.

Community Forum

111 invitations were sent to individuals and organisations identified as community leaders.

11 invitations with a cover letter signed by the Mayor were sent to individuals nominated by

Councillors.

11 invitations with a cover letter signed by the Mayor were sent to school captains of high

schools in Knox via their Principal.

11 invitations with a cover letter signed by the Mayor were sent to local Members of

Parliament.

Invitations were emailed to 155 people who’d registered their interest in the project at the

Knox Festival.



Invitations were emailed to 141 people who’d completed postcards and many of these

where followed up with phone calls by a member of the Knox@50 team.

2000 invitations with a cover letter from the Mayor were sent to a random selection of

residents.

Civic Centre display and electronic screen were both set up in the first week of June and continue to

support the Knox@50 Celebration. It is estimated that 11,000 people could potentially have viewed

the display and screen over the past year.

e-newsletters providing project updates were sent to those who had expressed an interest in the

project in August, September and December.

Social media: 120 Facebook and Twitter posts went out to 1500 subscribers.

Ward newsletters that were distributed in December included a Knox@50 section which gave

readers an overview of the project, a snapshot of what we had heard so far and invited them to take

part in the online survey or request a seeded card.

Phone poll: During November the Customer Service call centre ran a phone poll asking callers

whether they had heard of Knox@50. Of the 1328 respondents 226 said that they had. 55% of callers

took up the opportunity to be added to the Knox@50 mailing list.



Appendix 6 Key Themes identified through Engagement

Top 20 themes derived from engagement include:

1. Services: facilities, council and non-council provided, maintenance (buildings, roads,

footpaths, etc), programs, events, transport services.

2. Politics: government decisions, programs and projects (that Council should/does provide),

planning, governance, decision-making, regulations, processes, bureaucracy, Council

funding/budget, rates.

3. Transport: mode/type, public transport, private transport, access, cost, location, car

dependency, efficiency.

4. Community Strengthening: friendly neighbourhood, happy, celebrating community, bringing

people together, good will, connection to other people.

5. Clean Environment: green and leafy, amenity (visual, noise, etc), pollution, biodiversity.

6. Leisure: activity/socialisation, sport, cafe culture, dining, shopping, community groups, arts

& culture, festivals, informal recreation (e.g. cycling).

7. Open Space: public/private, open/country feel, views, Dandenong Ranges, parks, bushland

setting, green & leafy, backyards, playgrounds.

8. Values: heritage, people’s behaviour e.g. choosing sustainable options, ‘common values’,

religion, culture, lifestyle choices.

9. Communication Technology: internet, telephones, computers, electronic devices, access to,

changes in, social media.

10. Housing Diversity: medium/high density, apartments, townhouses, detached housing,

housing options, downsizing, family housing, housing design & character, multi-generational.

11. Living Locally: access and proximity of housing, employment, shopping, leisure, education,

transport, family/friends/neighbours.

12. Safety: actual, perceptions of, graffiti, hoons, road safety, cyber bullying.

13. Ageing: ageing population, support/services/facilities for aged, aged care.

14. Young People: birth to 18 years, services/programs, values.

15. Infrastructure: roads, rail, buildings e.g. hospital, technological, social, environmental,

bikeways, footpaths.

16. Resource Use: energy, sustainability, food, water, fuel, efficiency, people, sharing resources.



17. Multiculturalism: migration, multicultural activity/services/programs, country of birth,

tolerance, acceptance, integration, celebration, culture (e.g. food, shops), connections.

18. Education: providers, access, level, type, cost, location, relevancy.

19. Industry: type, location, land, opportunity, future of, employment, partnerships.

20. Family: services, programs, support, structure, intergenerational, , family values, family

friendly.



Appendix 7 Meetings

Advisory committee meetings: Knox@50 staff members attended each of Council’s advisory

committees to inform them of the start of the project.

Councillor briefings: Councillors were updated on the project regularly at Special Issues Briefings

between February and October.

One on one meetings with Councillors were held in May/June to provide Councillors with an

overview of the activity plan and give them the opportunity to identify individuals or community

groups that they felt were important to engage with during the project. They were also given the

opportunity to propose Vox Pop locations. Meetings were held with eight of the nine Councillors.

EMT meetings: The Executive Management Team were consulted on the progress of the project at

meetings in February, March, May, June, July and December.

CEO briefings: Information about Knox@50 was presented to Council staff at CEO briefings on 19

April and 5 July. The CEO also talked about Knox@50 as part of the CEO update at the briefing on 20

September.

A Knox@50 staff briefing was held at the Civic Centre on 25 July to inform staff about the project.

Staff were invited to a follow up workshop.

Customer Service briefings: four briefings/workshops plus written updates were provided for

Customer Service staff to keep them informed throughout the project.

Internal Knox@50 Leadership Group: monthly meeting of internal managers were held from

February to December 2012.

A Community Leadership Group was formed during the Knox@50 project to provide a

representative voice of the community whilst considering how the drivers of change are impacting

on Knox. The group first met on 8 November 2012 and meetings will continue until December 2013.

A Councillor induction session was held on 18 November 2012. The new Council was informed about

the Knox@50 project.



Appendix 8 Project Team

Project Sponsor(s) Angelo Kourambas – Director City Development

Mark Dupe – Director Corporate Development

Project Director(s) Kim Rawlings – Manager City Futures

Kerryn Ellis – Manager Corporate Planning and Performance

Leadership Group Angelo Kourambas - Director City Development

Kathy Parton - Manager Community Wellbeing

David Blair - Manager Youth Leisure & Cultural Services

Kath Oakley - Manager Corporate Communications

Trish Winterling – Manager of Sustainability (former)

Craig Dinsdale – Manager Sustainable Infrastructure

Project Team Sarah Lane – Senior Strategic Planner

Jane Kuchins – Project Officer

Jaya Manchikanti – Community Engagement Officer

Rebecca Hutchinson – Improvement Project Officer

Zoe Perrington – Project Support Officer

Anna Lottkowitz – Project Coordinator (January – July 2012)

Michelle Booth – Project Support Officer (January – June 2012)

Tracey Vervoort – Community Engagement Officer (January – March 2012)

Claire Anderson – Senior Strategic Planner (November 2011-January 2012)

Mandy Bow – Service Planning Coordinator (June – September 2012)

Analysis Team Rebecca Coates – Senior Strategic Planner

Sarah Lane – Senior Strategic Planner

Jane Kuchins – Project Officer

Zoe Perrington – Project Support Officer

Acknowledgements Ingo Kumic – Coordinator Place Program

Paul Gallagher – Strategic Communications Coordinator

Mardi Solomon – Coordinator e-Services and Projects

Vince Patton – Graphic Designer

Darlene Swan – Social Planning Research Officer

Special thank you to the many council officers across the organisation who supported Knox@50

throughout the project.



i It is noted that extensive consultation was undertaken during Structure Planning processes for several locations in Knox. The findings of these consultations have not been discussed here as they took place more than two years ago. ii Guidelines for the types of matters/applications to be referred to the PCC are:

i) any major project (including residential developments of twenty or more units); and

ii) any application where either

it appears that the PCC process offers a chance of an agreed result, or

ten or more objections have been received at the time of reporting, or

the proposal / objections raise significant policy issues warranting the PCC hearing different views, or

the matter is ‘called up’ on request of a Councillor or identified officer (being the CEO, Director - City

Development, Manager - City Planning, Manager – Strategic & Economic Development).

Knox 50 Final ReportFINAL REPORT | MARCH 2013 Page 7 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose Purpose of this...

Documents

Transcript of Knox 50 Final ReportFINAL REPORT | MARCH 2013 Page 7 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose Purpose of this...