At the meeting, we continued to plan for the future of our suburbs by asking the Minister for Planning to commence the planning scheme amendment process for the Bentleigh Structure Plan amendment.

The Bentleigh Structure Plan amendment:

• introduce permanent controls, including building height controls, setback controls, and other design guidelines to manage new development in the commercial core of the Bentleigh Major Activity Centre (MAC)
• add the adopted Structure Plan to the list of background documents within the Scheme
• update local planning policies to align with the Structure Plan, including depicting the new Bentleigh MAC boundary
• rezone several properties within the Bentleigh MAC boundary.

Once the Minister authorises the amendment, we will put it on public exhibition.

We endorsed a new Community Engagement Framework and adopted the updated Policy.

The Framework provides opportunities for open, transparent relationships and conversations between Council and our community. It outlines our principles, approach and commitment to genuine engagement. The Framework supports us to deliver the Policy objectives:

• setting a standard on how we engage with our community
• commitments to our four community engagement principles
• strengthening relationships and building community trust through good practice
• closing the loop with the community on the outcomes of engagement activities and how they inform Council decisions.

We formalised a dog off leash area in the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve, after receiving feedback from close to 400 community members where 62 per cent where in favour of the dog off leash area.

This decision now allows a dedicated, fenced off-leash area for dogs, giving pet owners a local and safe place to exercise their pets. The dog off- leash area will start on 1 September and the Racecourse Reserve Trust will manage the reserve, including, signage, lighting, fencing, and maintenance of the dog off-leash area. Our role now will be to monitor that people walk their dog off-leash in the correct area, like we do with all our public open spaces across Glen Eira.

We awarded over $24,000 in facility hire and small grants.

These grants help bring a range of activities and support to our community including:

• the Torch to hold the Confined 15 Exhibition and the Centre of Jewish Artists to host the Youth Collective in the Glen Eira Art Gallery
• Glen Eira Adult Learning Centre to hold English language classes
• U3A Bentleigh to hold weekly table tennis, Hatha Yoga, dance sport, line dancing and Tai Chi sessions
• Murrumbeena Bowls Club to launch a pickleball program.

For more information and all the reports from the meeting, visit our Council meeting page.