The Victorian Government has identified Sunshine as the key centre of Melbourne’s booming west. To unlock Sunshine’s full potential the Department of Transport is developing a masterplan for the Sunshine Station Precinct which covers a 400-metre radius around Sunshine Station. The masterplan will provide long-term strategic direction to help guide change and investment in the precinct.
Getting the community involved in the master planning phase of any precinct is critical. It provides the community with the opportunity to help identify the big ideas and projects that will lay the foundation for the precinct’s future.
Capire supported the Department of Transport to develop a coordinated engagement strategy. The community was invited to provide feedback on a series of draft precinct-shaping projects, including priorities and identifying additional ideas. Engagement activities included an online survey, a community reference group, pop-ups, and community sessions.
Approximately 1,200 surveys were completed and over 100 people attend online and in-person engagement activities. We heard from a diverse range of community members representing various experiences and interactions with Sunshine Station.
The range of different engagement activities allowed individuals flexibility in how they engaged. For example, the online survey provided a simple way for the community to provide feedback on the projects and how they could be improved, while the in-person workshops provided the opportunity for more in-depth discussion and the opportunities for community members to hear from each other.
The outcomes of the engagement have provided the Department of Transport with feedback that will help refine the projects and ideas outlined in the masterplan. Overall, feedback on the proposed projects was very positive. But it did highlight which areas for improvement are most important to the community.
