Photo credit: ‘Looking east towards Heidelberg, Yarra Ranges and Dandenong Ranges from Bellfield’ by Philip Mallis, licensed under cc-by-sa-2.0
Yarra Ranges Council engaged Capire to deliver four focus groups aimed at reaching key community cohorts that were not reached in previous engagement and/or have a special interest in the draft Housing Strategy 2023.
Through targeted focus groups, Capire engaged with residents (including young people and representatives from the Yarra Ranges Township Network), developers, architects and others, to gain their insights on key aspects of the Housing Strategy, including: Neighbourhood Character, Housing Diversity, Affordable and Social Housing, and Sustainability.
Approach
Overall, Capire engaged with 40 key stakeholders, alongside Council officers, to further shape the Yarra Ranges draft Housing Strategy.
Given this was the second phase of engagement, the focus groups were designed to facilitate a critical exploration of and feedback on the contents of the draft Housing Strategy, based on the different perspectives of the key groups. We included case studies and guest speakers to provide examples and unpack concepts, as well as inviting participants to raise concerns and share their ideas.
Council was also keen to hear from young people, so we conducted an interactive session with students from a local high school. This session examined housing diversity and sustainability, as well as what aspects of their neighbourhood students would like to remain and what aspects they would like to change.
Outcomes
The engagement provided the project team with new insight into what key community groups value, as well as their concerns and aspirations for housing and neighbourhoods across the Yarra Ranges. Council will use this information to review and refine its Housing Strategy.
