Community feedback gathered through this first phase of community engagement highlighted strong, consistent themes about what people value most and where they would like to see investment. You can access these and what we heard in the phase one engagement summary report.

The below graph displays the full results of the community priorities captured in phase 1 of the community engagement.

We received feedback from a wide cross-section of our diverse community.

• 63% female, 32% male and 3% identified as non-binary
• All age groups represented; highest participation from those aged over 65 (27%), 36–45 (21%) and 46–55 (15%)
• Participants from 15 suburbs; strongest participation from Epping, Doreen, and Mernda
• 367 (35%) spoke a language other than English at home
• 163 (11%) were people with a disability or unpaid carers of a person with a disability of older person
• 43 (4%) identified as member of the LGBTIQA+ community
• 18 (2%) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders

Between 1 September and 5 October 2025, Council delivered a broad and inclusive community consultation to hear from people who live, work, study or visit the City of Whittlesea.

Community engagement included both online and in-person activities to ensure everyone had a chance to participate.

Community engagement activities included:

• Engage Whittlesea platform: survey and expression of interest for future focus groups
• 26 in-person activities across the municipality, including 15 community-based pop-up stalls and 11 short survey sessions
• direct engagement with community networks, including seniors, multicultural, youth, disability, sports, business, and arts groups

We promoted the opportunity to participate through newsletters, direct emails to stakeholder, digital screen and flyers at Council facilities and through council’s, social media channels.

Reach and participation

• 1,052 people contributed feedback
• 1,075 comments collected
• 870 in-person and 182 online contributions
• 28,615 social media views and 14,955 account reach

The 125 online participants were given the opportunity to share how they may order the priorities differently, whether we missed any priorities or add any other comments.

Do you agree with the top five Community Priorities?

A total of 43 people responded that they did not agree with the order of the top five priorities and suggested the below amendments:

• 24 thought Community Wellbeing should not be in the Top 5
• 18 thought Ageing Well Services should not be in the Top 5
• 16 thought Community Safety should not be in the Top 5
• 11 thought Community facilities should not be in the Top 5
• 6 thought Roads, public transport and footpaths should not be in the Top 5
• One person did not agree with any of the top 5 Community Priorities

Do you agree with some of the top 5 Community Priorities?

A total of 36 people responded that they did not agree with some of the order of the top five priorities and suggested the below amendments:

• 20 thought Parks, Playgrounds and open space should be in the Top 5
• 13 thought Youth (10 – 25 years) should be in the Top 5
• 11 thought Family and Children should be in the Top 5
• 10 thought Local Business and Employment should be in the Top 5
• 8 thought Arts, Culture and Event Services should be in the Top 5
• 7 thought Emergency Management should be in the Top 5
• 7 thought Sustainable environment should be in the Top 5
• 6 thought Animal Management Services should be in the Top 5

Further information can be read in the full engagement summary for phase 2.

We heard from 86 people in person and 125 people online.

Diversity of participants includes:

• 55% female, 39% male
• 23% aged 35-44 years, 18% aged 45-54 years and 15% aged 55-64 years
• 12% of participants were from South Morang, 11% were from Bundoora and Lalor
• 9% of participants identified as a member of the LGBTIQA+ community
• 26% spoke English as a second language
• Seven participants identified as First People

Between 29 November 2025 and 31 January 2026, Council shared the results from phase one with community and asked them if they agreed with the order.

Community engagement included both online and in-person activities to ensure everyone had a chance to participate.

Community engagement activities included:

• Engage Whittlesea platform: short survey and expression of interest for future focus groups
• 3 in-person activities at municipal wide events.

We promoted the opportunity to participate through newsletters, direct emails to stakeholder, digital screen and flyers at Council facilities and through council’s, social media channels.

Reach and participation

• 211 people contributed feedback
• 86 in-person and 125 online contributions

Focus group members participated in 3 different activities.

Participants working in small table groups generated 207 ideas in response to the three questions posed in the session related to priorities of the community to inform the draft Community Action Plan 2026-27.

Activity 1 focused on Community Priorities

Table groups were asked to consider:

• if they were happy with the order as determined through the first two phases on community engagement
• if there were they any priorities that needed to be reshuffled/reordered
• reasons why they did not agree with the order captured through the first two phases of engagement
• if anything has anything been missed?

Participants on 11 tables across three community focus groups told us that the top five priorities are:

• Community Safety
• Roads, Public Transport and footpaths
• Community Wellbeing
• Youth
• Community Facilities.

Activity 2 focused on aligning Community Priorities with the Community Action Plan

Table groups were provided a copy of the Action List and asked to identify if the community priorities captured throughout the previous phases on community engagement and presented in the first activity align with the draft Action List. Participants were asked to identify any gaps in the action items presented as well as share any new ideas/ways of improving the list.

Activity 3 focused on the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan and Disability Action Plan Matrix.

Table groups were provided with a copy of the matrix and asked how they would like to see the action list address the health/disability matrix. When asked to identify any ideas of how the Action List addresses the health/disability matrix, a total of 57 ideas were captured across 11 tables in the three focus groups.

A total of 46 community members from across the municipality participated in the three community focus groups.

Diversity of participants included:

• 4% living with a disability or carer of a person living with a disability
• 63% were female and 37% were male
• Age range was between 19 and 75+ with most represented age being 45-54 years (33%)
• 28% spoke a language other than English at home.
• 9% identified as members of the LGBTIQA+ community