Upper Beaconsfield Resilience Project
About
This 2018-2019 pilot project aimed to build the Upper Beaconsfield community’s resilience to emergencies.
Council and community members collaborated to:
- increase social connections and sense of wellbeing
- increase knowledge of and be better prepared for potential risks
- improve their emergency preparedness
- build on the existing community emergency resilience in Upper Beaconsfield.
The project aligned with the Council Plan Actions (2013–17), the Liveability Plan (2017-29), the Resilient Melbourne Strategy and Emergency Management Victoria’s Community Resilience Framework for Emergency Management.
This project was funded by Cardinia Shire Council and Municipal Emergency Resourcing Program.
Project outcomes
Increased social connections and sense of wellbeing
Community priorities were identified through a variety of community engagement opportunities.
Council listened to feedback from residents, via group forums and surveys, to understand more about the community. We learnt how residents see their community, and what they need to become more responsive and resilient in a time of crisis.
- 73 people completed online or hard copy surveys.
- 100 people engaged with Council staff at the Upper Beaconsfield Village Festival
- 75 people attended the Neighbourhood Day events.
Increased knowledge and better preparation for potential risks
To support the community in increasing its emergency resilience, Council sought advice from these local groups and organisations:
- Cardinia Food Movement
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
- Emerald Community House
- Emerald Emergency Planning Group
- Emergency Management Victoria
- Nillumbik Shire Council
- Ready2Go Cockatoo
- Resilient Melbourne
- St Andrews Conversations
- Victoria Police
- Upper Beaconsfield Association
- Upper Beaconsfield Community Centre
Established the current level of emergency awareness
Feedback through online surveys and community group visits provided information on the current level of the community’s emergency awareness.
- 95% of survey respondents identified fire and extreme weather events as the biggest perceived risk for community emergency.
- 50% of respondents felt somewhat prepared in the event of an emergency
Increased understanding of community priorities
Group engagement and survey results identified that the community:
- believed there was a need to strengthen community connections to build resilience in the local community
- believed there was a disconnect between long-term and new residents
- believed that knowing your neighbours was important
- wanted to continue to hold and promote local events
- wanted assistance from other agencies to enable them to better plan and prepare for themselves
- had a strong desire to build new community connections and strengthen existing connections.
- As a result of this community feedback, the Upper Beaconsfield Fuel Management Project was developed. Council is also supporting the Upper Beaconsfield Community Centre to hold a Neighbour Day event on March 31st 2019.
Council actions as a result of the community feedback
In response to this feedback, Council:
- worked with the Upper Beaconsfield Community House to support ‘Neighbour Day’ on 31 March 2019
- facilitated a community-led Fuel Management working group