The Docklands Community Forum was established in 2012 as an interim measure to help inform the implementation of the Docklands Community and Place Plan and the development of Docklands into its second decade.
Over this time, Docklands has grown and transformed considerably and there are now over over 10,000 residents and 50,000 workers in Docklands.
In 2017, the City of Melbourne undertook a review of the forum, and gathered feedback from the community to understand how it could be improved. Based on these findings, we implemented a range of recommendations to help increase participation in the forum and align it to better meet current community interests and needs.
News
Timeline
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Timeline item 1 - complete
Engagement launched at Docklands Community Forum
Wednesday 25 October 2017
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Timeline item 2 - complete
Engagement closes
Monday 27 November 2017
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Timeline item 3 - complete
Findings compiled and recommendations considered
December 2017
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Timeline item 4 - complete
Recommendations implemented
March 2018
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Timeline item 5 - complete
Expressions of Interest for the Dockland Representative Group open
Wednesday 28 March 2018
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Timeline item 6 - complete
Expressions of Interest for the Dockland Representative Group close
Monday 7 May 2018
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Timeline item 7 - complete
New Docklands Representative Group members announced
Wednesday 27 June 2018
Consultation closed
Community consultation
Last year, the City of Melbourne conducted a review of the Docklands Community Forum, with support from Development Victoria and the current Docklands Representative Group members. The review sought to understand the value of the forum and how participation and representation can be more reflective of the growing Docklands community.
This included:
- a series of pop-up sessions across Docklands
- an online questionnaire
- workshops with key stakeholders to gather feedback on the future direction of the forum and opportunities for improvement.
Thank you for your time and feedback into this review.
- Most people saw value in the forum serving as a network to connect communities and stakeholders, and as a platform for advocacy on important issues in Docklands. People expressed a desire for more networking opportunities at forum to enable people to connect and meet each other.
- Support for more local community participation in the forum and more opportunities to hear from the community about their own projects and ideas.
- A need for increased promotion to the Docklands community about the forum.
- People wanted forum agendas to focus on important issues to Docklands including: Harbour Esplanade, primary school planning, sporting and recreational groups, transport, environmental and other large development projects.
- More relaxed and not so formal format, and a slightly later start time.
- Reshaping forum format to be less formal and encourage more opportunities for networking, connection and community-led projects and updates.
- Begin transitioning the forum from a Council-led to a community-led model from 2018
- Broadening the number and range of the Docklands Representative Group members to ensure they are reflective of the growing Docklands community.
- Focus on improving the quality of and community participation in forums, rather than the quantity of forums. With this in mind, forums will be held quarterly in 2018.The Docklands Representative Group, City of Melbourne and Development Victoria will work together to ensure forums are well promoted and curated.
- Work with the new Docklands Representative Group members over 2018 to help develop new Terms of Reference for the forum enabling it to function as a community-led network in 2019. City of Melbourne and Development Victoria would continue to be involved in and support the forum.