Meet Alison Leighton, the City of Melbourne’s CEO, and have your say on the issues shaping Melbourne’s CBD.
This September, Residents 3000 is bringing CBD residents together with the City’s chief executive—and inviting you to help shape the questions and priorities we take to Melbourne’s decision-makers.
Meet the City of Melbourne’s CEO at Forum 3000
Join us for our September Forum 3000 as we welcome Alison Leighton, Chief Executive Officer of the City of Melbourne, for a conversation about Melbourne’s CBD, the role of the CEO and the future of our city.
Event details
- Date: Thursday 3 September 2026
- Time: 6:30pm
- Venue: Kelvin Club
Alison will introduce herself and explain the role of the Chief Executive Officer—including how it differs from the role of the Lord Mayor. She will then discuss her views and priorities for Melbourne’s CBD, including important projects, changes and opportunities facing our city.
Ask the CEO a question
A substantial part of the evening will be devoted to questions from residents.
Is there something you would like to ask about living in Melbourne’s CBD, Council services, safety and amenity, planning, infrastructure, city management or Melbourne’s future?
Submit your question in advance and Residents 3000 will put a selection of questions to Alison during the Q&A. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions on the night.
Program
- 6:30–6:40pm — Introduction from the CEO: her role and how it differs from the Lord Mayor
- 6:40–6:55pm — The CBD and Melbourne’s future: priorities, projects and changes
- 6:55–7:30pm — Resident Q&A
- From 7:30pm — Raffle prize draw, catering and conversation
What should Residents 3000 raise with the City?
Residents 3000 has been invited to participate in the next City of Melbourne residents groups meeting in mid-September.
These meetings bring together resident associations from across the municipality with the Lord Mayor, councillors and senior City of Melbourne representatives. They provide an opportunity to raise local concerns and seek responses or follow-up from Council.
We want to hear from CBD residents.
Is there an issue affecting the CBD that you think Residents 3000 should raise? This might relate to safety, cleanliness, noise, planning, public space, transport, apartment living, Council services or another matter affecting city residents.
We will review submissions and use them to help identify the issues and priorities Residents 3000 takes to the meeting.
Have your say: Data Centres and AI Infrastructure
Data centres increasingly underpin the systems modern cities and countries depend on—from artificial intelligence and cloud services to government, healthcare, finance and communications. Where this infrastructure is located can also have implications for Australia’s digital sovereignty, economic resilience and national security.
At the same time, data centres can place significant demands on electricity, water and land, raising legitimate questions about where and how they should be developed.
The City of Melbourne has released a Draft Data Centre and AI Infrastructure Position Paper exploring how Melbourne should approach this rapidly growing infrastructure.
The challenge is not simply whether Melbourne should have more or fewer data centres, but how we accommodate infrastructure that may be increasingly important to our economic and strategic future while protecting the liveability and sustainability of our city.
Consultation is open until 30 September 2026.
We look forward to seeing you at Forum 3000 and hearing what matters to you as a city resident.
