Merri-bek City Council

Expressions of Interest are now open for our Community Connector program! Community Connectors help us share important messages with our diverse community and give us feedback about their communication needs. If you speak a language other than English and have a strong connection with your community, we want you to apply! All ages, backgrounds, and abilities are welcome to apply. Applications close 5pm 11 August 2024. 📝 To apply online, visit https://lnkd.in/gJDbtGBD You can also complete a paper application form at one of our libraries or customer service centres. Image description: Two people engaged in conversation. Black text on a yellow background says ‘Apply to become a Community Connector'

🗳️Council elections are coming up all across Victoria! The elections will take place in October, including for Merri-bek City Council. You do not have to be an Australian citizen to vote in your local council election, but you do need to be enrolled to vote. You can enrol to vote with your local council if you are: 👉🏽18 years or older 👉🏽an owner ratepayer, occupier ratepayer or represent a corporation 👉🏽not already enrolled to vote in this council area. 📅To vote in this election you must enrol by 4 pm on Wednesday 7 August. To check your eligibility, visit https://lnkd.in/gFr4-uSQ ❗Once you are enrolled, you must vote. If you don’t vote, you may get a fine.

We were delighted to hold Merri-bek City Council's First Peoples' Wellbeing Calendar 'Planting and NAIDOC Yarns' staff event this morning on Wurundjeri Country at Moomba Park Wetland in Fawkner, as part of NAIDOC Week.   After morning tea, those in attendance planted 300 native plants, a wonderful symbolic connection to the land, and a great way to help strengthen the environment. Participants engaged in conversations about what NAIDOC means to them and how we can all keep the fire burning. The theme for this year’s NAIDOC Week is 'Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud' Find more information about events at https://www.naidoc.org.au/

At Merri-bek City Council, we are committed to a sustainable future through our Zero Carbon Merri-bek Climate Emergency Action Plan. One of our key visions is to promote active and zero-emissions transport within our community and organisation. Last week, our Program Officer, Niva, took an inspiring step by choosing one of our e-bikes over a car from Council’s fleet. Niva delivered posters and paper voting forms in different languages for the Frith Street Park and Saxon Street Community Hub naming projects to Merri-bek Libraries and neighbourhood houses, ensuring everyone in our community, including those who don't speak English as a first language and those who are not digitally savvy, can participate. Niva, who hasn't ridden much before, was able to borrow a bike and take some separated and low-traffic bike paths to build her confidence. She shared her experience: "I'm so glad I gave it a go to use the e-bike for work for the first time—the whole experience filled me with so much joy, not just for completing tasks, but also for being able to enjoy every moment along the way. None of this would have been possible without the encouragement and support from my fellow bike-riding colleagues at Council." We currently have six e-bikes and one e-cargo bike in our Council fleet. We are proud to support and incentivise our staff to adopt sustainable travel habits, demonstrating our dedication to a zero-carbon future. Learn more about our initiatives and how you can get involved at https://lnkd.in/gQ9AwDwj Image description: Niva is smiling and standing next to a bicycle outdoors. The scene includes a clear sky, a tree, and the ground.

We have a name for the new park at 260 Sydney Road, Brunswick. After a thorough community consultation process, Michelle Guglielmo Park emerged as the clear favourite. Michelle Guglielmo, former curator at the Counihan Gallery, left an indelible mark on our community through her dedication to the arts and culture. As we honour her memory, Michelle Guglielmo Park will be a vibrant extension to Brunswick, featuring trees, timber decks, beach seats, a lawn area, a drinking fountain, and more. Plus, we're thrilled to announce the addition of a unique feature: a film projector program curated by the Little Projector Company. This projector will provide a platform for artists, students, and filmmakers to showcase their work from dusk to dawn, prioritizing content from diverse voices in our community. Michelle Guglielmo Park is set to open in October 2024. Image description: Michelle Guglielmo’s twin sister Nicole and her mum Angela at the site of the new park opposite the Counihan Gallery in Sydney Road.

We're lighting up Glenroy to celebrate the women who make it an extraordinary place to live, work and play ✨ You're invited to be the first to see The Extraordinary Women of Glenroy portraits and artwork projected onto some of the local buildings 📽️ These are some of the friendly faces you’ll see in the portraits 🤩 When: Tuesday 25 June, 6pm to 8pm Where: Corner of Glenroy Road and Hartington Street in Glenroy We'll launch the nightly projection artwork with live music, free hot drinks, and activities for the kids, including glow in the dark face painting! Rug up and come celebrate some of the women who are making a big difference to their community ❤️

New homes for our feathered and furry residents! 🦜 We’ve installed 50 new nesting boxes at 3 reserves across Merri-bek to provide extra habitat for birds and microbats. 🦇 The nesting boxes are funded by the 2023/24 Community Budget Ideas engagement project and voted for by the community. The boxes provide shelter in younger trees that don’t have natural hollows. Artificial nesting boxes can support some species in urban areas where natural shelter may be lacking.🌳 You can see the boxes along our creeks at Fran Street Reserve, Glenroy, J P Fawkner Reserve, Oak Park, and K W Joyce Reserve in Pascoe Vale. The boxes offer extra habitat for Red-rumped parrots, pardalotes, and microbats. Have you spotted any new residents moving into the boxes? Tag us in your social media posts so we can share with the community. 🤳 Visit Conversations Merri-bek to find out more about the Community Budget Ideas 2023/24: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dFkPdX-s IMAGE ID: A colour photograph of a man in a tree installing a nesting box. The man is wearing high vis protective clothing, a helmet, and a safety harness.

⭐Congratulations to our School Crossing superstars! ⭐ They are the unsung heroes quietly ensuring pedestrians safety. Last month School Crossings Victoria's School Crossing Supervisor of the Year nominations closed. We would like to congratulate 8 of our School Crossing superstars who have been nominated! - Deborah - Marty - Kathryn - Christine - Gerry - Aubrey - Sue - Ginger The winners will be announced at the Award Dinner Friday 12 July. Top row: Christine, Sue, Ginger Bottom row: Gerry, Marty, Deborah and Aubrey Kathryn (absent).

Share your thoughts on the draft plan for the new park at York Street, Pascoe Vale South! 🌳 Earlier this year we asked you what type of park you would like us to build as part of our 'Park Close to Home' program. Thanks to your feedback, we’ve created a design that includes elements from 2 themes – an adventure park and a natural/passive park. Now we want to hear your thoughts on the draft design. ✏️ Some of the features in the draft concept design include: 🍴 A picnic shelter, seating, and BBQ facilities 🛝 Multi-age shaded play areas 👦 360-degree accessible swing 🌱 Biodiverse indigenous gardens 🚽 Compostable public toilet 👩🦽 Wheelchair path network ⛲ Water play area. Visit Conversations Merri-bek to see an interactive 3D tour of the draft park design and share your thoughts: https://lnkd.in/gbq3c2KZ Your feedback will inform the final design for the new park. ⏰Feedback closes Monday 8 July. Click on the 2 graphic illustrations to see what the park might look like on launch day when it's new, and in about 5 years when the trees are mature. ID: 2 graphic illustrations from a birds-eye view of a park with trees, play equipment, a water play area and people enjoying the facility. Text on graphic 1 reads: New. Text on graphic 2 reads: Mature.

Last week we celebrated the launch of our Volunteer-led Open Streets at Glenroy West Primary School! For 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon parent volunteers safely closed the road to cars outside the school gates. This created a safe space for Glenroy West Primary students to ride, walk, scoot and play to and from school. We had Dr Cranky's - Bikes for Kids there to repair kids' bikes, Lug Carrie giving parents a spin on their e-cargo bikes, and coffees, cakes and more to celebrate the day. We are proud to have Glenroy West become our 4th school to run volunteer-led Open Streets, as part of our Ride & Stride program. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gwcc2fqz