Ararat Rural City Council passed the four-year draft municipal public health and wellbeing plan during its October 26 council meeting.

The was uploaded to the Engage Ararat website on Friday, October 15 and submissions closed on Monday, October 25.

No submissions were made.

Ararat Rural City Council chief executive Tim Harrison said partnerships will be "critical" to the plan.

"EGHS have already signed on to work together around health and well being and population health," he said.

"We have also got a partnership with Federation University where we are engaged with a number of people from the health sector to work with us around the plan.

"Hopefully we build some very strong partnerships there moving forward, partnerships are critical to the plan."

The Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021-2025 will work with the communities of Ararat Rural City to maintain social cohesion, support community activity and cultural life to enhance the safety of residents.

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Councillor Bob Sanders supported the plan at the October 26 council meeting.

"(It is a) really good short sharp plan again, like our council plan," he said.

"(The plan makes) good use of a PHD student, which is a great asset to us too."

The plan includes the strategic health and wellbeing objectives for the next four years and will be rolled out in three distinct stages.

Phase one of the plan is the development stage, where key partnerships will be consolidated and will last from October 2021- March 2022.

Phase two of the plan is the implementation stage and it will last from April 2022 to March 2025.

Preparation for the 2026-2030 plan will occur in the final phase, based on the 2021- 2025 plan.

Councillor Jo Armstrong said she hoped the plan helps outline the council's role to the public.

"I think it will go quite some way to make a lot more clear to the public that council's role is facilitation of municipal health and well being," she said.

"Not so much delivery, it is those partnerships with those project partners EGHS, Federation university the psychology education resource centre, the Grampians community health and central highlands integrated family violence that is going to make this work."

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