The City of Melbourne draft Annual Plan and Budget for 2017-18 has been released for public consultation.
There are some great outcomes in the draft Annual Plan and Budget which implement Greens City of Melbourne Policies and deliver on Greens election promises.
Highlights of Greens policy implementation include:
| City of Melbourne Annual Plan and Budget 2017-18 | Greens Policy |
| Spending the $12.91 million Public Open Space Fund on vital new inner city parks, including Southbank Boulevard Linear Park and Boyd Park in Southbank, and an expansion to Gardiner Reserve in North Melbourne. | Environmental Sustainability Aim 4 |
| $1.569 million to plant >3,000 new trees. | Environmental Sustainability Aim 1 |
| $5 million towards a three year program to convert 16,000 street lights to LEDs. | |
| $2.5 million for bicycle lanes and improvements, including 500 new bike hoops, new bike lanes along Albert St East Melbourne, and various improvements to local routes in Southbank, North Melbourne, Kensington and Carlton. | Transport Aim 21 |
| $1.5 million to progress Elizabeth Street pedestrianisation between Flinders Lane and Flinders St. | Transport Aim 16 |
| $16.3 million across all Arts programs, including scoping planning for the North Melbourne Arts Precinct. | Arts Aim 4 |
| $6.7 million on capital works to support childcare, including $3.7 million to refurbish the Lady Huntingfield childcare centre and $3 million towards development of an integrated family and children’s service at the Central Carlton Children’s Centre. | Community Aim 16 |
| >$500,000 to divert and daylight drains to return water to the Elliott Ave Billabong in Royal Park. | Environmental Sustainability Aim 2 |
| Urgently progressing heritage reviews in the CBD, Southbank and Fishermans Bend to bring heritage controls up to date as quickly as possible. | Planning Aim 29 |
The budget has been set with overall rates revenue capped at 2%.
The full draft Annual Plan and Budget is here, along with various summary literature.
Public submissions on the Annual Plan and Budget are accepted until 2 June 2017. Please contact your Councillors or make a direct submission on the Annual Plan and Budget – there is still plenty of scope for amendment.