At the December council meet­ing, Brighton Council endorsed the findings of the Social Infra­structure Plan for community consultation.

Social infrastructure includes both open space and recreation, and community and cultural fa­cilities by providing the places and spaces for people to meet, be active, connect, create and learn. It plays an integral part in bringing people together and provides opportunities for indi­viduals, families and communi­ties to develop life skills, create healthy lifestyles and engage socially. Social infrastructure also provides opportunities for all to maximise their potential, through diversity in education­al, cultural, sporting, social and recreational offerings.

In recent years, rapid popula­tion growth has put consider­able pressure on social infra­structure across the Brighton municipality, which is projected to be the fastest-growing local government area (LGA) in Tasmania in percentage terms, with an expected population gain of 33.4% (5,754 people) by 2042. Brighton Council subse­quently engaged Ethos Ur­ban, in collaboration with the Community Collaborative and Ireneinc, to prepare a Social In­frastructure Plan that identifies the gaps and needs for social infrastructure provision across the municipality to 2042.

Key challenges and oppor­tunities identified in the Plan include:

• Young populations and a lack of youth space
• Areas of social disadvan­tage in the LGA
• Lack of social cohesion between neighbourhoods
• Low activation and vibran­cy with limited people-cen­tred places
• Rapid population growth and planning for new com­munities
• Improving existing assets
• Deficit in creative infra­structure and local cultural spaces
• Significant undersupply of GPs living and working in the LGA.

Key priority areas for open space and recreation include:

• Expanding the large amount of waterway related open space
• Considering the recreation infrastructure available at school sites
• Limited walkability in some areas (although noting Council’s work in upgrad­ing Brighton’s existing walking and cycling net­work)
• Spaces for informal indi­vidualised fitness-based activities
• A diversity of play offerings
• Dog friendly spaces, tennis facilities and access to an indoor recreation centre.

The Plan identifies priority ac­tions for the Brighton Council area as a whole, as well as on a suburb-by-suburb basis. The community consultation for the project will run for a period of four weeks from Monday 30 January until Friday 3 March 2023. The relevant documents can be inspected on Council’s website under the ‘Have Your Say’ tab at www.brighton.tas. gov.au/community/have-your-say.

Members of the community are invited to review the documents and make written submissions. All submissions received during the consultation period will be considered by Council in making their final decision as to whether to endorse the report’s recommendations or wheth­er the submissions received warrant changes. If you have any questions about the project, please contact Jo Blackwell on 6268 7028.