Mayor’s message

By Cr Michael Whelan

Last week was National Children's Week – an annual national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children.

Based on Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the theme for Children's Week 2023 is "Children have the right to relax, play and to take part in activities they enjoy."

I think that our community works together to achieve this celebration – something I see and hear on my travels – from the joyous laughter of kids having fun in playgrounds to seeing families surfing together on the local beaches.

During Children's Week, Council along with many of our community not-for-profit organisations, schools and early childhood services organised open days, displays, special events, virtual spaces and activities for children and families.

This was a fantastic opportunity for families in our region to enjoy fun, engaging and educational experiences.

With a rapidly growing population, we are pleased about recent events confirming further funding for kindergartens in our region. We have also just hosted the first of many partnership roundtables with key organisations in our region to address early childhood workforce shortages in Bass Coast to help prevent lengthy waiting periods for families seeking childcare arrangement and to ensure a more equal footing for all young children into kindergartens.

This week we were thrilled that the Wonthaggi Guide Park Playspace won the 2023 National Landscape Architecture Award – a testament to the vision of those involved for so many to be able to enjoy playing there now – a space for connection for families.

I meet a lot of people in the community on my travels and the feedback around activities for families is always positive. We have beautiful beaches, playgrounds, activities, libraries, incredible businesses supporting children and so much more.

Of course we’ve just had the Moto GP in town as well with many days of fun despite the wild weather. Great to see so many families out amongst the crowds of bikes.

With Berninneit opening, we are excited to be including a significant amount of programming specifically for children and families – much of which are free and low cost to ensure all can enjoy. I’d encourage you to pop over to the island and see what’s on offer.

If you’re looking to do something this evening for Halloween – get dressed up in your scariest outfits and head on down to Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre. Hosted by the YES Youth Hub and our community partners there are a series of sessions in a safe and age-appropriate space which you can find on our website.

I’d further encourage everyone to check out our website for events, look out for posters and book into the many events coming up as well as new libraries with story-times and much more.

Our entire region has areas for all ages and with our vision of the Dino Trail and other advocacy projects, we hope that there will be many more adventures and memories to be made across the Bass Coast region for generations to come.

In addition to everything local, we can’t forget all our visitors of all ages – we've just been awarded a Finalist in the 2023 Victorian Tourism Awards! So fingers crossed for a win there and thanks to our community for your courage to open incredible businesses for locals and visitors and to everyone for being warm and welcoming to ensure our region is a continued leader for tourism.