The information will be used to develop an open space strategy. It is the first time the shire has conducted a study into the role of open spaces in the life of residents.

Recreation and community development manager Jacqui Anderton said the council was working with ROSS Planning to develop a shire-wide open space strategy which would provide direction to council for the future planning and provision of open space in the shire.

She said areas included parks and playgrounds, civic spaces and gardens, recreation reserves, sporting fields and courts, walking tracks and trails, foreshore areas, water bodies, natural and conservation areas, and heritage would all come under the microscope as council works to build future plans for their use. 

The project will address the availability of existing open spaces and assess future demand both at a township and shire-wide level.

Individual spaces will be assessed, as well as the connections and linkages between facilities and open space.

She said a key component of the strategy involved input from the community on open space usage and preferences.

These include how individuals use open space, how far they travel to key areas, what they value about them, and how they would like to see the shire’s open spaces evolve in the future.

Mayor Mick Wolfe said residents were “particularly lucky” to have so many different open spaces to use. “The strategy will give us a framework that will define and categorise open space.”

To have a say in the development of the strategy you can fill in an online community survey, a hard copy survey available from council’s customer services centres and libraries or attend an informal community workshop in one of five locations.

For more information on the strategy visit moyne.vic.gov.au/oss