Council plans recovery

Manjimup Shire Council is putting its expertise to good use by planning a recovery from the effects of COVID-19.

The council’s Recovery Team is in the midst of collecting information about how the pandemic is impacting the community and identifying gaps in services and community needs, to provide community support and information.

Manjimup shire president Paul Omodei said once all the information had been gathered, a Recovery Plan would be prepared and would look at what actions and measures were needed to support a community to recover once the pandemic restrictions were lifted.

“A Recovery Plan is at its best when it is community-driven — it is created and implemented together with the local community, business and relevant government agencies,” he said.

As part of their job in the Recovery Team, the recovery coordinator and team members will collect and monitor pandemic information such as accommodation supply and status, social services, domestic violence, mental health, food support, welfare supports and government programs and services. The team will then apply this information at a local level to better understand what the community’s needs are and to lobby from the ground up to ensure the communities are receiving assistance and support for the areas where there are gaps.

Data collection will also support grant applications to organisations such as Lotterywest.

Once the Recovery Plan is prepared, its structure will be broken into sub-groups such as business/tourism, social/community.

Cr Omodei said the plan would need to consider aspects such as business operators, the tourism sector, event organisers, sporting groups and community groups.

“The aim is to have everyone thinking about the opportunities and actions that can exist when the restrictions start to reduce and when WA, at the very least, is open for business,” he said.

“By working together, the Shire of Manjimup will be in a stronger position to benefit.”

People who feel something has been missed or has an idea or information is urged to call 0499 550 224 or email recovery@manjimup.wa.gov.au