Community minds come together for Jacksons Hill master plan

The VPA would like to thank the over 180 Sunbury residents and community group members who attended the Jacksons Hill Community Ideas Workshop last night at the Sunbury Bowls Club.

The aim of the consultation was to provide residents with a chance to hear more about the future of the much-loved Jacksons Hill site and provide their ideas for its future.

The forum gave participants a chance to meet the project team, learn about the new Jacksons Hill online engagement platform and hear from an architect about the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

Most importantly, the workshop provided attendees with a platform to express their likes, ideas and issues about the Jacksons Hill site, which were recorded on maps designed around the key themes of ‘heritage’, ‘a mix of uses’, ‘education, community and arts’, ‘access and movement’ and ‘design’.

All comments have been recorded and will be critical in informing the future Jacksons Hill Master Plan that will aim to guide future use and development on the site.

VPA Senior Urban Designer Tom Shield and Dean Landy from ClarkeHopkinsClarke Architects both gave presentations outlining the history, background and key issues that will be considered as we work towards a draft Master Plan. You can find the presentations here and here.

Some residents voiced their concerns during a question-and-answer session following the presentations while others took the opportunity to chat to planners one-on-one. People were also able to record their likes, ideas and ideas for the site at the workshop following the presentation, where participants were able to suggest ideas for specific areas of the site.

Key issues raised during this question-and-answer session included concerns about local infrastructure, the rundown nature of the current site and excitement around the many uses that could be accommodated on site while still maintaining its superb heritage features and values.

Quotes attributable to Karoline Ware, Director, VPA:

“We were thrilled to see such a cross section of people get involved in the workshop from users of the site, to neighbours and those who just have a strong interest in the future of Jacksons Hill’.

“This is just the start of consultation and we urge people to stay involved as we work towards creating a Draft Master Plan for Jacksons Hill”.

For people to continue to provide feedback, please visit our ‘Interactive Ideas Map’ online. This map allows you to drop an ‘Idea’, ‘Like’, ‘Issue’ or ‘Story’ pin on an interactive map of Jacksons Hill. These comments will be included in the engagement report and considered in the Jacksons Hill master plan.

Submissions close on Friday 31 March and after that there will be a summary of engagement report sent to all residents. At a later stage the VPA will hold another forum to consult on a Draft Master Plan the VPA will create once all the feedback has been analysed.

Should you wish to receive a copy of this report and be kept up to date on the project as it progresses, please ensure you have left your name and email address in the ‘Subscribe Now’ section of the webpage here.