Mini-town halls will start popping up across Wyndham under a council plan to make itself more accessible to the community.
In a wide-ranging interview, new Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said the council would roll out five mini-town halls, or neighbourhood hubs, across the city to provide residents with services closer to home.
Hubs in Wyndham Vale, Point Cook and Tarneit will be open by the end of June next year, with the location of the remaining two yet to be decided.
The council has already trialled a customer service centre at the Wyndham Vale neighbourhood hub to see how the model will work.
“We’ll have one really large neighbourhood hub-mini town hall in each of our key planning districts,” Ms Grigsby said.
“Each neighbourhood hub will have a customer service presence. You’ll be able to see a town planner, maybe a building inspector.
“All the array of services we provide at the civic centre will be outreaching and have a presence at some of these other sites as well.
“It just means less requirement for people in areas like Wyndham Vale, for instance, to come into the civic centre.
“My role here will be to really maximise the way we work with our communities so that, as ratepayers and residents, people will see too much of us rather than not enough.
“[It will also] make us more responsive.”
Ms Grigsby said each mini-town hall would offer different services, depending on the local population profile and customer feedback.
There was also potential for council meetings to be held at the mini-town halls.
But she said this would not happen in the current term of council because the expected high cost would have to be considered.
Ms Grigsby said the council would also increase its online presence and continue its listening posts, where councillors and council staff go to public places on weekends to inform residents of council activities and, in turn, give residents a chance to provide feedback.
“We want to promote what’s happening and inform people about what we’re doing, but also listen to their issues,” she said.
“People can report things like a pothole on their road, and our customer service officers will be there to respond.
“I never underestimate the value of speaking to someone in person, which is why I’m really committed to that mini- town hall model.
“But that’s not to say we won’t be investing in online service either.
“An e-business approach is also important.”
