By Tanya Faulkner
Knox locals are being encouraged to get to know their council and community, following the release of its latest annual report.
The Knox City Council annual report for 2022 to 2023 was officially endorsed by local council at their recent general meeting on Monday 23 October, and will be available for the community to read at their own convenience.
Knox Mayor, Marcia Timmers-Leitch, said the report outlines a number of successes for council in the previous financial year, including the draft Boronia Revitalisation Strategy, the State Government Social and Affordable Housing Strategy, progression of the new Knox Library, and the Boronia Street Light Replacement Project in collaboration with Melbourne Water, amongst others.
She said the council has put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes, which is reflected in this recent report.
The motion to approve the report was endorsed by Cr Susan Laukens and Deputy Mayor Cr Jude Dwight, who both echoed their Mayor’s comments.
Cr Laukens said the report highlights that council is way more than just roads and rubbish.
“Rate payers can see where our rates have been used for services – some are regulatory, some statutory, and some from our community and council plan, but it’s all for the community,” she said.
Cr Laukens said she encourages Knox residents to look at the report, which is a great snapshot of what the council has done in the past year.
“It reads about successes which Mayor Timmers-Leitch spoke about, but also speaks to some of the challenges we have experienced during the year.
“I am proud of what we have achieved, and we have a lot more work ahead of us.
“We are all up to the task to make sure Knox is a great place to live,” she said.
Cr Dwight said for her, the report showed the work that goes on behind the scenes that locals aren’t always aware of.
“It’s why we feel tired, why we find ourselves in meetings and reading papers a lot of the time.
“We do a lot and it’s quite diverse,” she said.
Cr Dwight said the report might sound tedious to average ratepayer, but it’s full of gold nuggets that make her love reading it.
“It reports on our first full year with our new CEO Bruce Dobson, our organisational restructure and extensive EA process,” she said.
As the Knox municipality moves into an election year in the near future, Cr Dwight said these reports will help those who are interested in getting into council.
“As we are moving into election year, I strongly recommend anyone considering running for council to spend time getting to know this and previous reports.
“It’s full of useful snapshots of demographic data and analysis, and an insight into why and how we’ve been cutting financial pie and resources pie the way we do,” she said.
The full Annual Report for 2022 to 2023 will be available on the Knox City Council website at https://www.knox.vic.gov.au/
