Forty-eight people turned up to the Lara Community Centre on a cold Friday in May. We'd budgeted for twenty. The room overflowed into the kitchen and people stood in the corridor with cups of tea. The evening was convened by a local Lara resident — name on file — who asked for the gathering to be informal and unbranded; Bendigo Bank Lara sponsored the urn and the biscuits; television presenter and Geelong & Bellarine Tourism ambassador Catriona Rowntree opened proceedings; the rest of us listened.
The brief was deliberately narrow: what does Lara actually need next, and who's going to ask for it? Not strategy, not slogans — just the working list. By the end of the evening we had four pages of butchers' paper taped to the wall and a draft submission to take back to the City of Greater Geelong.
01 / The listWhat people raised, in order of frequency.
We counted hands. Anything mentioned by three people or more made the wall. In rough order of how often it came up:
- The crossing on Patullos Lane. The pedestrian crossing outside Lara Primary School comes up at every meeting, every cycle, every survey. Eight people raised it in the first thirty minutes. It is the single most-requested capital item in the ward and has been for at least four years.
- Footpath gaps on Hicks Street and the back end of Forest Road South. Half-finished footpath upgrades from the 2021 capital plan that were funded but never completed.
- The bus to the Geelong CBD. The 60 and 61 service frequency, especially after 6 pm and on weekends, was raised by every person under 25 in the room. The schedule hasn't been updated meaningfully since 2018.
- A meeting space for the youth. The Lara Sporting Club is booked solid; the library closes at 5; there isn't a place a teenager can go on a Wednesday evening that doesn't require parental drop-off and pickup.
- Drainage on Forest Road North. Standing water for forty-eight hours after any decent rain. Three residents have photos going back to 2022.
- Aged care & community transport for elders not on a pension. A small but vocal group of locals — including two long-time community volunteers — pointed out that the existing service is means-tested in a way that catches several of them just outside eligibility.
We're not asking for a new pool or a new oval. We're asking for the crossings, the footpaths, and the bus. We've been asking for them since the kids were in primary school. Those kids now have kids. — Lara resident, Patullos Lane, 30 May 2026
02 / What we're going to doThe submission.
Three of us — me, an undisclosed Lara resident (the convener of the evening), and a parent from the Lara Primary School Council — agreed to take the room's list and turn it into a formal submission to council. The submission will be drafted by mid-June, circulated back to everyone who attended for sign-off, and lodged by 30 June 2026 for the next round of capital planning.
The submission will be posted on this site under the News section in full, the moment it's lodged, with every signature visible. The point is for the City of Greater Geelong to see a list with names attached — not a generic "the community feels…" letter that's easy to wave off.
If you're a Lara resident, and you'd like to add your name to the residents' submission, email david@centrestage.org.au with "Lara submission" in the subject line. We need name, suburb, and the one or two items on the list you most want council to action.
03 / Thank youTo everyone who came.
Thanks to the local Lara resident who convened the night, set up the room and stayed late to pack it down — name on file at their request. Thanks to Bendigo Bank Lara for the urn, the tea, the biscuits, and the venue contribution. Thanks to Catriona Rowntree for opening the night and reminding the room that Lara is on the tourism map for a reason. And thanks to every resident who showed up after a long week to argue, in good faith, about a footpath.
The next Growing Lara briefing will be on the last Friday in July, same venue, same agenda. Walk-in welcome. If the room overflows again, we'll move to the Lara Sporting Club.