Local government is the most relevant level of government in relation to our daily lives.
It’s concerned with development in our neighbourhood, parking, rubbish, protecting the environment and preparations for managing future disaster situations.
Our community has an important role in determining how our council addresses the future and ongoing issues that affect how we live, by staying informed and engaged about what, how and when issues are prioritised and actioned, and having a say when the opportunities arise. This is the unique collaboration that exists at a local level.
Community input
Byron Council has a responsibility to inform and seek input from the community about actions, priorities, and future plans and to respect the value of community input and to commit to the collaboration.
How council keeps the community informed and engaged is defined in a document called the Community Engagement Strategy (CES).
The Office of Local Government (OLG) Councillor Handbook states that Community engagement is at the heart of local government. It helps community to be active participants in shaping their own future and play a part in positive change.
It also directs councils to incorporate the principles of IAP2, the International Association for Public Participation program that defines best practice for how the community engagement and participation processes operate. It determines that the first priority is to inform, and then defines the ways in which Council consults, empowers, and collaborates with the community. Then, there’s a responsibility to report on the contributions from community and how the input affected the decision-making process. This assists the community to gain increased knowledge about how Council operates.
Community empowerment
IAP2 has a focus on empowering community which includes five levels of engagement to inform and involve the community to deliver a collaborative, community-led approach to local government decision making. IAP2 also defines the need for government to make ‘promises’ to community that it will conduct the processes of engagement in a respectful manner and deliver on the defined principles and objectives.
The CES also identifies how it determines the design of Council’s communications with the community. It must identify all stakeholders and ensure that it engages with those groups in a meaningful way, acknowledging specific needs.
A new Council is required to undertake a review of the previous Council’s CES and seek community input on a revised draft.
This process happened recently and the draft CES was placed on public exhibition and received ten submissions. The report back to Byron Council identified that submissions were received but no input from those submissions were included and no explanation given.
Council then heard from residents (us) who had made submissions, we requested a deferral for a review of submissions and strengthening of the document. The councillors took note and resolved to defer approval and hold a workshop to explore how it could be enhanced.
The draft CES is being considered by our elected councillors soon. If community members have expectations for their input to receive greater focus and attention then it’s important to look at what is proposed and contact councillors with your feedback.
If you have an interest in the collaboration, now is the time to get informed and make contact with your elected councillors.
You can find the draft CES and councillors contacts on the Byron Shire Council website.
To find out more about IAP2 you can visit https://iap2.org.au.
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