Photos
Chief Executive's Message
Over the 2008/09 year, Council has continued to provide high quality services to the Monash community and has continued to invest in new community facilities. Our community surveys show that Monash residents value these services and facilities highly and that they are generally satisfied with Council's efforts, but we recognise that we need to continue to identify areas for improvement.
We have also made significant progress towards completing our major projects of the Oakleigh Aquatic Centre and the Electra Reserve Community Centre and are progressing well with the projects funded by the Commonwealth through their stimulus funding program.
Although the number of applications for building development fell slightly during the year and commercial construction activity is slowing, Monash remains well placed to maintain its major economic activity and employment role in Victoria by attracting business investment when the economy recovers due to its high quality infrastructure and ready access to a highly qualified workforce.
To assist business, Council developed an economic tool which analyses in detail our local economy and provides existing and prospective businesses with detailed economic data to assist in future decision making. This information is fully available on www.id.com.au/economy/monash
I especially wanted to recognise and thank our staff for their support of the response to the Victorian bushfires earlier this year. In addition to fund raising efforts, some thirty-nine Council staff volunteered over six hundred hours of their time to the bushfire recovery effort and I know that their help was greatly appreciated by the affected communities. The bushfires have sharpened our focus on ensuring Council's emergency management plans are appropriate and I thank the other emergency response agencies for their strong support in this regard.
I believe that Council is in a strong position to continue to respond to the future needs of our community.
David Conran
Chief Executive Officer
Updated: 22 October 2009
[ Up: Annual Report | Forward: Wards and Councillors ]