May 2, 2025 • 13 mins
Sam speaks with Cr Anthony Aitken, chair of the portfolio and advisory committee for access and inclusion at the City of Greater Geelong.
He tells us about a range of community engagement initiatives for residents in the region to have their say to help shape their parks, streets and public places, especially in regards to accessibility and how best to meet the needs of residents with disabilities.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
Are you a Geelong resident with lived experience of disability
or just an interest in accessibility? Well, the City of
Greater Geelong would love to hear from you. They are
currently holding a survey and a number of drop in
sessions to help shape their parks, streets and public places
(00:26):
to create more accessible spaces for people with disabilities. And
to chat with me all about this. It's my great
pleasure to welcome City of Greater Geelong councillor Anthony Aitken
to Talking Vision. Anthony, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you
very much for your time today.
S2 (00:46):
I'm very pleased to be here and thank you for
showing interest in Geelong.
S1 (00:50):
No problem at all. Now firstly, Anthony, we're here to
discuss a bit of community engagement that the City of
Greater Geelong is seeking from local residents in regards to accessibility.
But before we get into the details of the survey
and feedback themselves, I'm keen to hear a little bit
(01:13):
more about your disability access and inclusion portfolio, as well
as the committee that you belong to the Access and
Inclusion Advisory Committee.
S2 (01:24):
Well, Sam, the first thing I'd like to disclose to
the listeners is I am an elected official with the
City of Greater Geelong, and I've been there since 2017.
But I'm also a person living with a disability. I'm
actually deaf. And I'm very fortunate that cochlear implants, um,
have given me hearing capacity. Um, and that's why I'm
(01:46):
able to be able to listen to you today and
also represent my community. And I think that's part of
the reason why, um, I'm involved with our access and
disability portfolio that we have in the city of Geelong,
and I share the Access and Inclusion Committee. That committee
is an advisory committee to council, and it's made up
(02:07):
of other members of the community who are living with disabilities. Um,
it may be mobility issues, it may be hearing issues,
it may be sight issues. Um, it may be, um,
mental health issues and it may be acquired disabilities. We
have had a number of people who have had accidents
that have had acquired brain injuries that sit on that
(02:28):
committee as well too. The whole purpose of the portfolio
and the committee is to elevate advocacy and issues associated
with people living with a disability in the community. And
I'm proud to say that I think we've done very
well with that community and also with the representation, by
giving a stronger voice to people living with a disability.
S1 (02:48):
Fantastic. And that's also what we're, of course, here to
chat a bit further about. The City of Greater Geelong
is looking for public feedback to help shape your parks,
streets and public spaces. And as I understand it, that
covers two main projects, namely Public Realm and Open Space.
(03:10):
So could you tell us a little bit more about
public realm and open space?
S2 (03:14):
Look, there are two major strategies that the city's announced
public engagement in at the present time. Public realm is
actually spaces outside of our buildings. And what we're attempting
to do there is to identify spaces where people may
come and congregate to and actually how we can try
and improve them. And public open space is where we
(03:38):
have either organized sports or community activities. So it might
be like where there's a local program, where there's a
sporting field or where there's just public open space, which
is just available for people to come and use at
any particular time. The two strategies are separate, and what
we're engaging at the present time is the communities to
get feedback about both of them. And an example is
(04:01):
we've got significant building structures in Geelong, but we've got
these public areas outside of them and we really would
like to hear from the community how we could make
those spaces better. And with our public open space, we
really want to try and make them as accessible as
possible for all members of the community, that they can
feel safe and access them and enjoy them. But I
(04:24):
personally have a very strong commitment to try to make
sure that our public spaces, both public realm and open space,
do meet accessibility requirements for people living with a disability.
Whether it is sight, as most Vision Australia people would
be who are listening to the broadcast today, but it
also includes people living with hearing loss or mobility issues.
(04:46):
And of course, you know those people that need access
to a wheelchair or something for movement. The design and
accessibility of our public spaces and public realm is really important.
And that includes like having pathways that go towards our buildings,
creating opportunities where there is existing tree canopy and mature
tree canopy that someone can access the shade under those
(05:09):
trees and in public open spaces. It really is about
how we can bring everyone's needs together in the future
to make it an enjoyable space for them.
S1 (05:19):
And Anthony, as I understand it, the public community feedback
has been open for just over a month now. What
are the sort of things you've already heard from the community,
especially in regards to accessibility?
S2 (05:34):
Well, look, the first thing that's come back is people
said they want more public open space, and that probably
reflects what we all experienced during Covid, where our local
park actually became really important during that lockdown period because
we needed some space to actually meet and congregate in.
One of the challenges that we've got in Geelong is
(05:54):
that over the next 17 years, our population is actually
going to grow from 289,000 to an estimated 400,000 people,
and it means our public open spaces have become even
more important as more and more people are living in
our urban areas and high density areas means that they
will need public open space. So what the initial feedback
(06:16):
that we've received is predominantly been about people saying we
actually need more public open space, but there's been some
really good feedback as well, too, about what type of
design materials we use for our footpaths, whether we should
be using concrete because it's much more accessible than gravel,
how we transition from grassed areas to public areas as
(06:37):
well too. And that discussion has certainly been taken by
the council to consider it as well too. And what
we're also it's not part of this particular strategy, but
we are getting feedback as well too, about dogs and
animals in public spaces as well too. So we're trying
to channel that engagement. We actually have got a major
dog management project that's going on underway as well to
(06:59):
at the present time with engagement, but most people have
actually been really good to think about ideas about how
they can improve the public spaces and even simple things
like people saying that they do need water fountains in
public open spaces. And even going back to that dog issue,
people are saying we do need to have more dog
bags for areas that the city is actually creating new
(07:22):
public open spaces as well too. The engagement process is
actually still open till the 12th of May, and we've
actually got a major drop in. People can actually access
it now online and look at the council website, and
we may talk about that a little bit later as
well too. But yeah, we really would encourage more feedback
from people living with the disability so that we can
(07:44):
try to target towards more accessibility. Most of the feedback
has come from able people with a really good to
get some targeted feedback from people living with a disability,
and in particular, people with low vision who can try
and assist the Council to improve its urban design principles
so that it can enable people with low vision to
access both our public realm areas and our open space areas.
S1 (08:07):
As you've mentioned there, The the drop in sessions are
very quickly upon us. In fact, one of them's already
just happened as of this week. It was on the
30th of April for people to head along then, but
if people have missed out, there's still time. They can
head along to a couple more. So let's get the
details about those two sessions on the seventh and 8th
(08:30):
of May.
S2 (08:31):
Well, what they are, um, Sam, is we recognize that
not everybody can just fill out forms through the online internet.
So there were three traditional face to face opportunities for
people to go and be interviewed for public engagement. The
second one was to occur at Drysdale, at the library there,
at the new library on Wednesday the 7th of May,
(08:54):
between 4 and 6 p.m., and the last one is
actually scheduled to occur out in shoreline at the new
Northern Arc on Thursday the 8th of May, between 4
and 6 p.m., and we have missed the one that was,
of course, on the 30th of April, which was that
Wiki Niall, which is the civic administration building in the
centre of Geelong.
S1 (09:15):
But that's okay because as you've said, there's still opportunities
for people to have their say, either in those drop
in sessions or through the survey itself. So let's get
the details of that survey in particular.
S2 (09:30):
If people go to Geelong, Australia. Com.au so all one
word Geelong, Australia. Com.au. There's a section called have Your Say.
And there is the opportunity to click on that section
to help shape our parks, streets and public spaces. There
are some accessibility. So if you need hearing or speech
(09:53):
support you can click on that. And it will actually
read out what is actually on the page. And there
is translation support as well too, if people have non-English
speaking background. But I suspect the hearing and speech support
would be really important for people with low vision. That
can be accessed through the council's website, and you're encouraged
(10:13):
to fill out that survey before the 12th of May
at 5 p.m., when it will formally close.
S1 (10:21):
But, um, given the timing of everything and people may
not be able to get in touch during session one.
Don't stress because as I understand it, Anthony, there will
be a second phase of community engagement happening later on
in the year for people around September. October? Isn't that right?
S2 (10:44):
Yeah. Look, the way our engagement processes work is we
do our initial community engagement, which is what's occurring at
the moment. So that was between the 28th of March
and the 12th of May. And that's where we initial
get our initial feedback. And then the officers will actually
collate that information and collate other data as well to
to develop the draft strategies. And because we have so
(11:07):
much public realm and also public open space in Geelong.
It's quite a big task. So that's actually occurring between
March and October of this year. And then there will
be a draft of each of the strategies will come
out and we will re seek public engagement. So you
are right for those people who are thinking that they
may have missed an opportunity to influence that, the draft
(11:29):
strategies will be released and we will seek feedback on
those draft strategies. So if there's some really important things
that have been missed that people want to present, they
will get that opportunity between October and November of this year.
S1 (11:42):
Okay, wonderful. Well, in that case, Anthony, I think we
might get in touch in 4 or 5 months time
and let people know about how those phases have gone already,
but also, of course, invite people to take part in
phase two of the community engagement for open space and
(12:03):
public realm, and the strategies the City of Greater Geelong
is putting together to make the city more accessible for
all constituents out there. I've been speaking today with the
City of Geelong's Disability Access and Inclusion portfolio chair and
chair of the Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Councillor Anthony Aitken,
(12:25):
about the community engagement the City of Greater Geelong is
currently undertaking to improve the accessibility of parks, roads and
public spaces in the Greater Geelong region. Anthony, thank you
so much for your time today. It was a pleasure
to catch up with you.
S2 (12:41):
Thanks, Sam, and thank you to all your listeners, and
I wish everyone a great 2025. And it sounds like
we may have the opportunity to speak again towards the
end of the year, and I would welcome that opportunity
to come back and discuss some of the draft ideas
that have come out, and I'm pleased I encourage anybody
living with a disability to be an active member of
our community and try and make sure that everything is
(13:04):
more accessible, and those people who are making the decisions
listen and you are heard and we influence outcomes. So
thank you, Sam.
Are you a Geelong resident with lived experience of disability
or just an interest in accessibility? Well, the City of
Greater Geelong would love to hear from you. They are
currently holding a survey and a number of drop in
sessions to help shape their parks, streets and public places
(00:26):
to create more accessible spaces for people with disabilities. And
to chat with me all about this. It's my great
pleasure to welcome City of Greater Geelong councillor Anthony Aitken
to Talking Vision. Anthony, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you
very much for your time today.
S2 (00:46):
I'm very pleased to be here and thank you for
showing interest in Geelong.
S1 (00:50):
No problem at all. Now firstly, Anthony, we're here to
discuss a bit of community engagement that the City of
Greater Geelong is seeking from local residents in regards to accessibility.
But before we get into the details of the survey
and feedback themselves, I'm keen to hear a little bit
(01:13):
more about your disability access and inclusion portfolio, as well
as the committee that you belong to the Access and
Inclusion Advisory Committee.
S2 (01:24):
Well, Sam, the first thing I'd like to disclose to
the listeners is I am an elected official with the
City of Greater Geelong, and I've been there since 2017.
But I'm also a person living with a disability. I'm
actually deaf. And I'm very fortunate that cochlear implants, um,
have given me hearing capacity. Um, and that's why I'm
(01:46):
able to be able to listen to you today and
also represent my community. And I think that's part of
the reason why, um, I'm involved with our access and
disability portfolio that we have in the city of Geelong,
and I share the Access and Inclusion Committee. That committee
is an advisory committee to council, and it's made up
(02:07):
of other members of the community who are living with disabilities. Um,
it may be mobility issues, it may be hearing issues,
it may be sight issues. Um, it may be, um,
mental health issues and it may be acquired disabilities. We
have had a number of people who have had accidents
that have had acquired brain injuries that sit on that
(02:28):
committee as well too. The whole purpose of the portfolio
and the committee is to elevate advocacy and issues associated
with people living with a disability in the community. And
I'm proud to say that I think we've done very
well with that community and also with the representation, by
giving a stronger voice to people living with a disability.
S1 (02:48):
Fantastic. And that's also what we're, of course, here to
chat a bit further about. The City of Greater Geelong
is looking for public feedback to help shape your parks,
streets and public spaces. And as I understand it, that
covers two main projects, namely Public Realm and Open Space.
(03:10):
So could you tell us a little bit more about
public realm and open space?
S2 (03:14):
Look, there are two major strategies that the city's announced
public engagement in at the present time. Public realm is
actually spaces outside of our buildings. And what we're attempting
to do there is to identify spaces where people may
come and congregate to and actually how we can try
and improve them. And public open space is where we
(03:38):
have either organized sports or community activities. So it might
be like where there's a local program, where there's a
sporting field or where there's just public open space, which
is just available for people to come and use at
any particular time. The two strategies are separate, and what
we're engaging at the present time is the communities to
get feedback about both of them. And an example is
(04:01):
we've got significant building structures in Geelong, but we've got
these public areas outside of them and we really would
like to hear from the community how we could make
those spaces better. And with our public open space, we
really want to try and make them as accessible as
possible for all members of the community, that they can
feel safe and access them and enjoy them. But I
(04:24):
personally have a very strong commitment to try to make
sure that our public spaces, both public realm and open space,
do meet accessibility requirements for people living with a disability.
Whether it is sight, as most Vision Australia people would
be who are listening to the broadcast today, but it
also includes people living with hearing loss or mobility issues.
(04:46):
And of course, you know those people that need access
to a wheelchair or something for movement. The design and
accessibility of our public spaces and public realm is really important.
And that includes like having pathways that go towards our buildings,
creating opportunities where there is existing tree canopy and mature
tree canopy that someone can access the shade under those
(05:09):
trees and in public open spaces. It really is about
how we can bring everyone's needs together in the future
to make it an enjoyable space for them.
S1 (05:19):
And Anthony, as I understand it, the public community feedback
has been open for just over a month now. What
are the sort of things you've already heard from the community,
especially in regards to accessibility?
S2 (05:34):
Well, look, the first thing that's come back is people
said they want more public open space, and that probably
reflects what we all experienced during Covid, where our local
park actually became really important during that lockdown period because
we needed some space to actually meet and congregate in.
One of the challenges that we've got in Geelong is
(05:54):
that over the next 17 years, our population is actually
going to grow from 289,000 to an estimated 400,000 people,
and it means our public open spaces have become even
more important as more and more people are living in
our urban areas and high density areas means that they
will need public open space. So what the initial feedback
(06:16):
that we've received is predominantly been about people saying we
actually need more public open space, but there's been some
really good feedback as well, too, about what type of
design materials we use for our footpaths, whether we should
be using concrete because it's much more accessible than gravel,
how we transition from grassed areas to public areas as
(06:37):
well too. And that discussion has certainly been taken by
the council to consider it as well too. And what
we're also it's not part of this particular strategy, but
we are getting feedback as well too, about dogs and
animals in public spaces as well too. So we're trying
to channel that engagement. We actually have got a major
dog management project that's going on underway as well to
(06:59):
at the present time with engagement, but most people have
actually been really good to think about ideas about how
they can improve the public spaces and even simple things
like people saying that they do need water fountains in
public open spaces. And even going back to that dog issue,
people are saying we do need to have more dog
bags for areas that the city is actually creating new
(07:22):
public open spaces as well too. The engagement process is
actually still open till the 12th of May, and we've
actually got a major drop in. People can actually access
it now online and look at the council website, and
we may talk about that a little bit later as
well too. But yeah, we really would encourage more feedback
from people living with the disability so that we can
(07:44):
try to target towards more accessibility. Most of the feedback
has come from able people with a really good to
get some targeted feedback from people living with a disability,
and in particular, people with low vision who can try
and assist the Council to improve its urban design principles
so that it can enable people with low vision to
access both our public realm areas and our open space areas.
S1 (08:07):
As you've mentioned there, The the drop in sessions are
very quickly upon us. In fact, one of them's already
just happened as of this week. It was on the
30th of April for people to head along then, but
if people have missed out, there's still time. They can
head along to a couple more. So let's get the
details about those two sessions on the seventh and 8th
(08:30):
of May.
S2 (08:31):
Well, what they are, um, Sam, is we recognize that
not everybody can just fill out forms through the online internet.
So there were three traditional face to face opportunities for
people to go and be interviewed for public engagement. The
second one was to occur at Drysdale, at the library there,
at the new library on Wednesday the 7th of May,
(08:54):
between 4 and 6 p.m., and the last one is
actually scheduled to occur out in shoreline at the new
Northern Arc on Thursday the 8th of May, between 4
and 6 p.m., and we have missed the one that was,
of course, on the 30th of April, which was that
Wiki Niall, which is the civic administration building in the
centre of Geelong.
S1 (09:15):
But that's okay because as you've said, there's still opportunities
for people to have their say, either in those drop
in sessions or through the survey itself. So let's get
the details of that survey in particular.
S2 (09:30):
If people go to Geelong, Australia. Com.au so all one
word Geelong, Australia. Com.au. There's a section called have Your Say.
And there is the opportunity to click on that section
to help shape our parks, streets and public spaces. There
are some accessibility. So if you need hearing or speech
(09:53):
support you can click on that. And it will actually
read out what is actually on the page. And there
is translation support as well too, if people have non-English
speaking background. But I suspect the hearing and speech support
would be really important for people with low vision. That
can be accessed through the council's website, and you're encouraged
(10:13):
to fill out that survey before the 12th of May
at 5 p.m., when it will formally close.
S1 (10:21):
But, um, given the timing of everything and people may
not be able to get in touch during session one.
Don't stress because as I understand it, Anthony, there will
be a second phase of community engagement happening later on
in the year for people around September. October? Isn't that right?
S2 (10:44):
Yeah. Look, the way our engagement processes work is we
do our initial community engagement, which is what's occurring at
the moment. So that was between the 28th of March
and the 12th of May. And that's where we initial
get our initial feedback. And then the officers will actually
collate that information and collate other data as well to
to develop the draft strategies. And because we have so
(11:07):
much public realm and also public open space in Geelong.
It's quite a big task. So that's actually occurring between
March and October of this year. And then there will
be a draft of each of the strategies will come
out and we will re seek public engagement. So you
are right for those people who are thinking that they
may have missed an opportunity to influence that, the draft
(11:29):
strategies will be released and we will seek feedback on
those draft strategies. So if there's some really important things
that have been missed that people want to present, they
will get that opportunity between October and November of this year.
S1 (11:42):
Okay, wonderful. Well, in that case, Anthony, I think we
might get in touch in 4 or 5 months time
and let people know about how those phases have gone already,
but also, of course, invite people to take part in
phase two of the community engagement for open space and
(12:03):
public realm, and the strategies the City of Greater Geelong
is putting together to make the city more accessible for
all constituents out there. I've been speaking today with the
City of Geelong's Disability Access and Inclusion portfolio chair and
chair of the Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Councillor Anthony Aitken,
(12:25):
about the community engagement the City of Greater Geelong is
currently undertaking to improve the accessibility of parks, roads and
public spaces in the Greater Geelong region. Anthony, thank you
so much for your time today. It was a pleasure
to catch up with you.
S2 (12:41):
Thanks, Sam, and thank you to all your listeners, and
I wish everyone a great 2025. And it sounds like
we may have the opportunity to speak again towards the
end of the year, and I would welcome that opportunity
to come back and discuss some of the draft ideas
that have come out, and I'm pleased I encourage anybody
living with a disability to be an active member of
our community and try and make sure that everything is
(13:04):
more accessible, and those people who are making the decisions
listen and you are heard and we influence outcomes. So
thank you, Sam.
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