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Mayor’s Message The South Gippsland community will be pleased to know that Ned Dennis has this week been confirmed as our Community Strengthening Coordinator on a permanent basis, confirming Council’s ongoing commitment to community development. By South Gippsland Shire Council - 6th September 2004 - Back to News This role encompasses arts, youth and community development, and over the past few months Ned and his assistant Alycia Stivic have strategically redefined their portfolio into an exciting format that will enable members of the community to easily access information on these issues, voice their ideas and creativity, and participate in the region’s opportunities, projects and events through an unfettered process.
Key tools of this process include the recent formation of the South Gippsland Arts Network which attracted twenty four people to its inaugural meeting, representing fifteen art and cultural groups from across the Shire, and with apologies from another six groups. The group will meet every three to four months and it is anticipated that it will grow in strength and numbers.
In addition, two dynamic websites are being developed to provide a two way communication between Council, community groups and individuals. Other exciting initiatives are on the drawing board.
One is a significant enhancement of the Youth website that was constructed last year, and the other is a new site dedicated to Arts and Recreation.
Interested parties can jump on line and find out what events are coming up, or whether their event will clash with another, read updates on various projects, find out what grants might be appropriate to their cause, and submit questions that they would like answered.
The combination of these technologies plus skilled and talented people both in the community and in Council mean that community strengthening activities potentially have a far greater reach than in the past.
I know that all Councillors join me in inviting everyone to tap into the rich cultural resources we have that add so much to our South Gippsland lifestyle.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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