The Mount Gambier City Council has collated its draft community vision for Mount Gambier – 2035, incorporating an overarching vision statement, ‘A volcanic past with a crystal-clear future’.


The community is now being invited to review the vision and share their thoughts.


Council chief executive Sarah Philpott said the draft ‘Mount Gambier – 2035: A Community Vision for our Regional Capital’ reflects the wider community’s contributions through previous stages of the Mount Gambier 2035 project, the community panel’s interpretation of the public feedback and strategic leadership from council to guide the process and bring it together.


“The community panel’s work is significant in that it provides council with a real understanding of what is important to our community and what strategies should be implemented to help achieve the community’s goals as we look toward the future,” she said.


“It will also help to build community pride, social cohesion and strengthen our community identity.”


Councillors asked the community panel to consider:


What are the key elements that will inform the vision for Mount Gambier – 2035?


What should the strategic priorities for our community as we approach 2035?


How might we describe our cultural identity as a city?


The panel was divided into three groups to explore and address the individual topics: the overarching vision, strategic priorities and cultural identity.


The vision group focussed on developing a statement that captures the city’s inherent strengths and shared values of family, connection, growth and nature.


They created a statement to serve as an overarching message for approaching the city’s future: ‘A volcanic past with a crystal-clear future’.


The group envisions that by 2035, Mount Gambier will be ‘A connected hub nestled on the slopes of an ancient volcano; a haven of natural beauty.


It will be a place of stories, where our community is family, nurtured through growth, opportunity and connection’.


“Family is the foundation to what makes most people stay in Mount Gambier, and that is because through the family, whatever the family looks like, you’re able to find some meaning and have a purpose,” vision group member Alison Whibley said.


“Urban living in a rural setting is a big thing, we are a city with a rural heart. That is something that is quite unique to Mount Gambier,” vision group member Matthew Crowden said.


“We have real possibility for growth, in innovation and being able to support innovation in our community, being a hub for diversity and celebrating that diversity and being a hub for accessibility and for services.”


The strategic priorities group identified five priorities to represent the key focus areas that will contribute to achieving the vision for the future:


Environment and liveability: We are custodians of the landscape, committed to protecting and preserving out natural environment, creating a liveable city.


Learning and innovation: A regional learning hub that fosters innovation and local industries.


Infrastructure and services: A high quality, affordable lifestyle where people are happy, healthy and housed and able to access all available resources.


Economic and business growth: A creative, entrepreneurial mindset that creates a thriving, resilient community.


A vibrant community: Events, activities, sport and recreation all contributing to a vibrant city during the day, at night and across all seasons.


“We want to demonstrate the priorities are not stand-alone, they are all interconnected and underpinned by three key principles: connected, accessible and sustainable,” strategic priorities group member Lynette Corletto said.


“We will achieve the 2035 vision by all of the strategic priorities working together, so that people who come, stay; and the people who are here feel valued and grow in Mount Gambier.”


The cultural identity group considered what it means to be from ‘the Mount’ and what it looks and feels like when Mount Gambier is at its best.


“We knew that our cultural identity statement was going to be a story that inspires conversations and actions, one that is inclusive of all the diversity in this city, a story that all community members can accept as their own,” cultural identity group member Le-Anne Thomson said.


“We analysed the data from council’s cultural identity survey to find some common themes. We did some myth busting, we tried to break through the noise and identify what were the real challenges, because it’s not all perfect, it’s not all sunny.


“One standout was that we’re not always as welcoming and inclusive as we might aspire to be, so we thought how do we flip that narrative? How do we turn it into something that was strength based? Ultimately where we landed was that being from the Mount is about belonging, it’s our connection to place.”


The community vision will serve as the guiding principle for all planning and decision making by the council.


“The community vision will influence council’s strategic plan which will be developed and adopted by November 2024,” Ms Philpott said.


The community is invited to review ‘Mount Gambier – 2035: A Community Vision for our Regional Capital’ at www.haveyoursaymountgambier.com.au/mountgambier2035


The feedback will be presented to council for consideration before the final document is endorsed.


Read about the Mount Gambier – 2035 Community Panel’s work here.


Community consultation is open until July 10.