Midland. Think differently.
Community Activation Workshop Two: Summary
Summary
In July, a committed group of 40 people came together to figure out ways to turn their big ideas into action locally through ‘small wins’, helping to continue building Midland as a vibrant place in which we want to live, work and play. FORM brought internationally regarded place making facilitator, Gilbert Rochecouste, to lead and inspire us in taking our ideas to the next stage. We shared updates on progress to date, looked at the small wins that can be quickly ‘won’, and next steps from here. Thank you to all of you who participated and shared your valuable ideas.
This summary is broken into two parts: a summary of your key big ideas and small wins identified in the workshop; and an attachment with the detailed notes gathered from the workshop. Harnessing the momentum begun in the workshop by acting upon these big ideas is the first step in creating the liveable, community owned places which are so important for the future of Midland and the people living here today.
page 2.
From Big Ideas to Small Wins This workshop expanded on the big ideas generated earlier in the year. Together, we explored the possibilities of taking these to the next level ourselves and collectively, through community owned actions. The big ideas the community identified are:
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Local food reviews to build and promote local food assets
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Communal long-table discussions in the streets
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Block parties – build on the opportunity of the ‘meet your neighbours’ party funding offered by City of Swan
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Beauty as a driver
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Slow food or ‘Edible City Mecca’
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Midland as a ‘River Town’
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Shopping trolley gardens, urban orchards.
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‘Destination Neighbourhood’ with local and quality focus
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Local radio station
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Hub of diverse creativity and skill
Emphasise the rail history of Midland in food and hospitality offerings, Rail dining cars, tea lady carts
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Mapping – icons of local hotspots. eg. Food
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Identifiable place – scene and essence of place
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Good quality produce – aim for the best
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Community notice board for people to contribute
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Car boot sales and connect garage sales
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Cultural events, acknowledge and integrate Indigenous
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Identifiable, reliable routine event (quality and sustainable)
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Create and build on a positive, identifiable brand. Market it.
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Create a community notice board to write down ideas, notices
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Develop market – Vintage clothes, vintage car boot sale, spices, flowers, craft/art, jewellery
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Community music workshops – forum for music
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Reach out to local business and key local organisations to gain support for projects and permission to make use of key spaces
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Using pozible.com to fundraise for the community to donate to activities – seize community momentum and engagement
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Need a central heart of Midland
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Social survey – how would you like to see Midland? Taking it where they are
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Retro hairdresser’s festival associated with vintage events or festival
From these big ideas, a mixture of short-term projects were identified. You, as a group, generated a wealth of community owned actions, or Small Wins, aimed at transforming these big ideas into action Small Wins Small Wins are an important means of taking achievable steps toward a bigger vision. The following are a selection of those identified by participants that could be easily actioned as initial next steps: •
‘Garden bombing’ – Old palettes or trolley’s which can be moved
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Shopfront revitalisation or ‘Street Blitz’
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Collaborate with Men’s sheds, Parents and Citizens Associations, School Groups
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Food and tree planting, inserting greenery throughout the community
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‘Yarn Bombing’ and ‘Urban Knitting’
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Create community garden that is accessible for people to get involved with and collect produce from in return
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Think about music in the city – buskers/opera?
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Increase lighting through artistic measures
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Street trees & furniture
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Community Gardens
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Quality coffee shops
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Tap into the multicultural population
page 3.
Taking Action, Building Resilience Community owned initiatives such as those listed above are the grass roots projects which will begin to build a resilient and activated Midland and offer small actions we can all contribute to. The achievement of a number of small projects will help to build support and momentum for the Small Wins Process and themselves become signals of change.
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Look beyond the stigma, develop a positive scene
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Tap into seniors and unemployed and engage them to get involved
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Leadership group and leaders development
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Fertilise the soil – conditions and people – enrich people
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Inspire by example
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Icons of excellence – arts places – events
During the workshop, you generated a number of key ideas to continue building the momentum of Small Wins activities – small interventions that can be made in the immediate term to improve the environment. You also highlighted key points to engage others and get them involved.
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Relationships to other places – artist residencies and exchanges
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The things you indicated will be needed to work together to take things forward included:
Tourism links developed and strengthened – including Perth tourists and day trippers
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Create environments to meet, not just pubs
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More street lighting for activity at night
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No vacant properties or shopfronts
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New creative industries
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Create more opportunities to share concerns/ information amongst community members such as these workshops
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Bold Leadership, taking risk, inspiring others, we take the lead: US!!!
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Cooperation and collaboration, work with the businesses to make connections and partnerships
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Engage everyone, make the process inclusive and holistic
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Celebrating community members with awards, recognition, building pride
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Create more ‘spaces’ in our town to invite people to sit and be
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Building storytelling through arts & culture
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Articulate a vision for Midland
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Community radio
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Talk to Chamber of Commerce
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Night markets
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Bringing people out of their houses – accessibility, and walk ability
Place advertisements in the post (seeking people, $ and volunteers)
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Leverage work already being done at Woodbridge Primary
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Use existing popular places as the foundation for connections
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Think about things at a micro level
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With negativity, nothing good will happen
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Providing reasons to go outside other than sport
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Social networking – good way to connect and promote events, small wins etc. (eg. Facebook)
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Welcoming communication and encouraging groups and people from all walks of life to get involved
page 4.
During the workshop, you generated a number of key ideas to continue building the momentum of Small Wins activities – small interventions that can be made in the immediate term to improve the environment.
page 5.
Where to Next? It was great to see such enthusiasm and so many fantastic ideas being shared amongst the group. Now it’s time to keep building the momentum, get involved and start taking action! The small wins process is designed to enhance a sense of place in Midland, with the aim of improving liveability, growing a connected community network and a sense of achievement through community led and owned events and projects. To continue the positive outcomes from the workshop, you can: Build the Momentum Keep the conversation going. Help spread the word by letting 5 people know about everything you’ve learnt in the workshop last week, the ideas generated, and get them involved. Sign them up, spread the word and get more people
involved with the group through the Facebook network you suggested to share ideas and keep in touch. Your page is up and running here: www.facebook.com/midlandsmallwins Commit to Ideas Keep building the buzz around the key projects which resonated with you, and think about what’s required to get them off the ground. You as a group identified one small win that you wanted to start with at the workshop, garden bombing with pallettes throughout the streets. Let’s make it happen! Take Action! Help make Midland the place you want to live, work and play in. Share your progress on achievements and actions with us all. Look forward to hearing from you soon! Zane, Rebecca, Kate and the FORM team.
FORM is an independant, not for profit organisation dedicated to developing and leveraging creativity as a catalyst to improve the quality, opportunity and enjoyment of life for Western Australians. 357 Murray Street, Perth Western Australia, 6000 T +61 8 9226 2799 F +61 8 9226 2250 www.form.net.au www.midlandatelier.com
Midland. Think differently.
Community Activation Workshop Two: Notes
page 1.
Notes
Aspirations
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Value historic assets
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Build a good and positive perception of place
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Excited for the developments and changes
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Harness investment coming into sector
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Workforce to tap into & be proud of
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More reason to come back to Midland
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Build Midland Redevelopment Authority/Midland Atelier work throughout town
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Linking past & future
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Perception is changing already
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Long term rental accommodation, access & affordability of housing
Community to come together & support growth
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Best kept secrets!
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More nodes – places to go 24/7/365
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“We thought we’d hate it, but we love it!”
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Flow on to other areas of Swan
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Where people want to live
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Place to come back to – Party!
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Make your aspirations come true
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Opportunities
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Assist arts and culture to thrive
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Safer and nicer place
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Be the best it can be
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Capitalise on artistic community
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Community Radio Station in Midland
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See City of Swan after workshops
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Internationally known
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Markets, fairs, music, street art
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Wine bars, galleries, cafes
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Vibrant area & destination drawing from all over the world
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See Midland Grow
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Become an Active Hub
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Growing the assets already here
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Encourage people to explore
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page 2.
Opportunities and Challenges
Guerrilla Activity Opportunities
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More pop up art – urban knitting, A4 paper photography displays
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Being the rebel, doing things differently
Location: Proximity and a Junction •
Location (multiple references)
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Outdoor life and opportunities
Arts and History
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Become a destination
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Workshops – history, railway
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Regional gateway (links to surrounding areas)
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Develop heritage area
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Exploit swan valley
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Junction point – east and north
History of the town was vibrant – it can be replicated again.
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Nature, riverfront, parks, gardens
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History of place
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Fantastic geographic location
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River and natural setting
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Develop connection to the river
Food and Festivals •
Great food destination – local, gourmet, slow
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Coffee shops and cafes – designated strip
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Local brewery and butcher
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Bricklane in Midland?
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Food festivals – encouraging use of local produce and local crafts
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Opportunity to bring different cultures together – Midland has a great mix of people Markets day/night
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Foster Creativity: Celebrate and Promote •
Emerging creative industry
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Create a thriving artist community
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The links between cultures in community and history
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Tap into the artistic vein of the community
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Community radio station to promote, put out the info, interviews etc.
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Lots of ideas and enthusiasm to be harnessed
Building a Creative Workforce •
Wealth of creativity, artists and craft people
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Identify cultural plaza - a central place
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Community of makers, art, craft, produce
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Creative people, arts, crafts, designers
page 3.
Opportunities Continued Resources
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Tap into the seniors brains! They’re not dead yet! And they’re smart!
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Diverse population
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Connection young and old networks or groups
Workshops site
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People
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Having a range of industries nearby
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The people of the place
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Dedicated people with resources
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Go to the locals/long time residents
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Working with surrounding shires eg. Mundaring shire to promote Midland and the hills
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Changing population – new rather than entrenchment
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Education – higher literacy levels, more participation
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Happier people
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Opportunity to create a home
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Working with prominent schools e.g Guildford Grammar, Governor Stirling High HA, la sale college
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Capitalise on markets, velodrome, cafes etc.
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The built form – great buildings
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Community strength and spirit
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People want to work together
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Free resources (us) to get dialogue underway
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Community centre
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Comfortable place for discussion
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At least 40 people want to work together (people in the room)
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Community radio which will come
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Community association networks
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New industry – employment growth creation of new jobs
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Continue best characteristics of surrounding resources
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Connect Existing Community, Newcomers and Visitors •
Space
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Spaces for revitalisation
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Urban redevelopment is showing what is possible – and there is more to come – hospital etc which will bring an influx of people
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The ball is already rolling
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Blank canvas of an incredible, historic place and architectural background
page 4.
Challenges
Challenges
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Leadership
Employment and Housing Affordability
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Insufficient support from the state government
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Employment
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Bureaucracy
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Housing accessibility
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Bureaucracy and ‘no risk’ culture
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Accommodation
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Red tape
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Employment rates upon residents
Engagement and Central Meeting Place
Funding
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Engaging with young people
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Funding (multiple references)
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Funding
Engaging people and generating enthusiastic participation
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Cost
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Communication with older and ethnic people
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Money
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Shopping centre not good karma
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Perceived lack of money
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Engaging people not in the room
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Hard to get people to get together and commit
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Attitudes of people
Bureaucracy and Leadership •
Closed mind attitude
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Commitment to see through ideas (government and community)
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Culture
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No viable central place to meet
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The culture of can’t
Who are we attracting?
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Different interests in what’s to be achieved
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Demographics – who is attracted to Midland?
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Bureaucracy keeping pace with aspiration
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Under advertised
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Lack of leadership
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Lack of definable identity
page 5.
Challenges Continued
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Unknown to the wider community
Car Domination
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Changing the mindsets of local and WA – eg travel
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Poor transport
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Perception of distance from Perth
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Public transport connectivity
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Market confident in developing in Midland
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It’s overrun with cars not people
Safety, Fear, Vandalism
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Parking vs people
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Keep what’s good (don’t lose spirit)
Fear of places and people in Midland stops some from being involved
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Breaking down roads as barriers to connectivity, people and places\
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Vandalism, broken glass, rubbish
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Safety (multiple references)
Moving around – roads, cycle, walk
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Security
Changing Perceptions and Stigmas
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Lighting and lack of street lights
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Changing Stigma
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Anti-social behaviour
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New workforce coming to area – need to be (hosp) integrated to have a sense of investment
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Night vibe
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Perception that Midland is unsafe
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Perception of Midland
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Future Plans •
Poorly planned development for profit only (does not fit in)
Mindsets
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Plan for the future : 20-30 years
Current stigma
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Rivertown – remember the 100 year flood plains
page 6.
Daniel Hanley Updates us on What’s Currently Happening in the City of Swan •
Over 40 interest based networks and groups: Seniors, services clubs, men’s shed etc.
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Seniors group encompasses many networks and members ff Swan Regional Seniors Created the “Memorable movies of Midland’ which raises money for their group. ff They connect with local businesses by offering
parking and cheap lunches and dinner ff They are holding an expo to celebrate living ‘Time of your life’ festival which engages community, business and stakeholders ff Pamper Spot in Midland – encompassing a hair show – connecting up the local businesses and showcasing their skills in a collaborative manner ff $2.5m people hours contributed in volunteer networks
page 7.
This workshop expanded on the big ideas generated earlier in the year. Together, we explored the possibilities of taking these to the next level ourselves and collectively, through community owned actions.
page 8.
Small Wins are an important means of taking achievable steps toward a bigger vision.
Small Wins identified for realising the communities’ 5 Big Ideas Beauty as a Driver •
Shopfront revitalisation – street blitz, access, men’s sheds, P&nC, School Groups
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Tree planting & inserting greenery
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Stringing up fairy lights in the town centre
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Yarn-bombing
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Get a dozen people together to do a spruce up ff All you need is paint and enthusiasm
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Not just what you can see
Slow Food or ‘Edible City’ Mecca •
Local, multicultural food festival
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Rail history of Midland ff Rail dining car ff Tea lady carts ff Quadrant of carriages with parkland for music and food festivals
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Food and herb plantings through streets
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Local food network and reviewers and hot tips on restaurants on radio – local station
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Conversations over food – communal tables and discussions
ff Think about music – opera? •
Lighting – artistic and functional
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Street trees & furniture - soften the streets
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Community garden
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Quality coffee shops
ff Engage long time residents ff Surveying in ‘their’ location •
Mapping – icons of local food hotspots
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Block parties in streets – build on meet your neighbours program (city of swan)
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Pallet gardens that could be placed in public places – if they have herbs and food people can help themselves
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Urban orchard like PICA
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Mobile gardens in abandoned shopping trolleys
page 9.
Destination Neighbourhood with Local and Quality Focus •
Identifiable place – scene and essence of place
•
Good quality produce – aim for the best
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Not enough support to fuel creative outlets
Hub of Diverse Creativity and Skill
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Community noticeboard for people to contribute
•
•
Car boot sales and connect garage sales
Maximise the amount of employees coming into region – attracting workforce and community
•
Acknowledge and integrate Indigenous
•
Communication between stakeholders to share information
•
Cultural events
•
Maximise opportunities
•
Identifiable, reliable routine event (quality)
•
Good brand to market it
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Improve accessibility
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New employees, places to eat, work, live and play
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Difficulty developing local markets – too hard to make money and compete with franchise
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Building structure (integrated art)
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Excellence in skill (range)
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Change perception – create curiosity and provide a new change of scene
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Provide, facilitate communication between players
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Creative outlets – enough traffic to engage targets
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Community notice board to write down
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Develop market idea ff Spices, vintage clothers, vintagecar boot sale, flowers, craft/art, jewlerry
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Community music workshops – forum for music
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Indigenous festival – NAIDOC
ff Eg midland health campus - Urban garden at hospital
ff FORM, Swan Tafe, Artsource, City of Swan, Council •
Create linkages between existing creative hubs – town centre & workshops & tafe
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Good public transport station and linkages
Funding •
Reaching out to local business and key organisations in the area to gain support for projects and permission to use key spaces.
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Using pozible.com to fundraise for the community to donate to activities – seize community momentum and engagement.
ff Art, culture, music, language f f Community interaction and integration f f Creative new industry
page 10.
How do we make it successful? How do we build resilience? How Do We Make it Succesful?
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Look past the stigma
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Safe, open, welcoming and inviting public spaces
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Tap into unused workforce and engage them to get involved
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Need a central heart of Midland with developers to allocate and donate
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Leadership – we take the lead: US!!!
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People
•
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Think risk – work with the businesses to make connections and partnerships
Capitalise on markets – cafe, cycling, develop a ‘scene’
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Pedestrian and cycling access
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Cooperation and collaboration
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Diverse economy
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Start with revitalisation of shops
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Education – university in area
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Spontaneity is exciting but take a planned approach – it will still seem spontaneous to the audience
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Leadership group and leaders development
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Facebook network – spread the word and get your networks involved
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Fertilise the soil – conditions and people – enrich people
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Social Survey – how would you like to see Midland? Surveys taken out to where people are
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Engage indigenous community
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Storytelling – radio
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Use local government
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Connection of the arts and culture – link it all up
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Link the regions
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Icons of excellence – arts places – events
•
Make it inclusive and holistic
•
•
Get the word out!
Relationships to other places – artist residencies and exchanges
•
Tourism developed – Perth tourists
Building Resilience
•
Creating environments to meet, not just pubs
•
Celebrating community members with awards, recognition, building pride
•
Strength in numbers
•
More street lighting for activity at night
•
Building storytelling through arts & culture
•
Variety of employers – it’s a gateway
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Radio
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One good place to gather and drink kick arse coffee
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Night Market
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Aboriginal Employment programs
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Bringing people out of their houses – accessibility, and walk ability
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Youth employment programs
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Providing reasons to go outside other than sport
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Population – stable, return of visitors, sense of belonging for residents
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Social networking forum – good way to connect and promote events, small wins etc. – Facebook
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Long term housing availability
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Promoting volunteering and community groups
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No vacant properties or shopfronts
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Welcoming communication and encouraging groups and people from all walks of life to get involved
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New creative industries
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Social economic and entertainment hub
Sharing information and community support
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Taking a risk – inspiring others
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page 11.
How do we engage the community?
How Do We Engage Community in Midland? •
Create places to meet – not just consume
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Consider the economic costs of retail in Midland
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Create more opportunities to share concerns/ information amongst community members such as this
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Create more ‘spaces’ in our town to invite people to sit and be
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Use sport as a connector ff Have other attractions linked to the game
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Leverage circles of influence ff The community champions ff Use them as a mouthpiece
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Make things more obvious ff Promote and celebrate ff Make it seen
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Tap into seniors – they know the history
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Tap into the unused work force “human resource’
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Create/articulate a vision for midland
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Creating visible (safe feeling) public spaces
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Engage the local artists to create an atmosphere within
Use existing popular places as the foundation for connections
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Think about things on the micro level
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Engage and promote online ff Facebook group
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Engage people online through social media
ff It doesn’t have to be bigger than Ben Hur
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Talk to chamber of commerce to get onside (funding?)
ff Street gatherings
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Ad in the post (for people, $ and volunteers)
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P&C primary schools
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Now: Formal, informal
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Overcome apathy f f Independent views
ff Leverage work already being done at Woodbridge Primary •
Youth groups and men’s sheds – for people power
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Spread the word through crowdfunding
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Bring people out of their houses after work ff Doesn’t necessarily need dollars f f Close by
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Bring families together – not just sport
f f Negativity, nothing good will happen •
Create community goups – use to communitcate
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Ideas listened to – so many rules and regulations to overcome
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Feel they can make a difference
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Use something small – evidence of change
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Ensure good feedback/communication following consultation
FORM is an independent, not for profit organisation dedicated to developing and leveraging creativity as a catalyst to improve the quality, opportunity and enjoyment of life for Western Australians. 357 Murray Street, Perth Western Australia, 6000 T +61 8 9226 2799 F +61 8 9226 2250 www.form.net.au www.midlandatelier.com
DESIGN BY NUDE DESIGN STUDIO
Midland. Think differently.