There were three primary issues that I wanted to address when I came to Council just over a year ago. These issues all centred on improving Council’s approach to community engagement, through adopting a more service oriented approach to decision making, making more effort to communicate with the wider community, and being more transparent with its decision making processes.
We have made some significant progress in this regard over the past 15 months. The series of community workshops, conducted throughout the shire in 2011, were embraced enthusiastically by both council staff and the general public. At the same time, following a positive response to a survey of Wamboin, Bywong and Sutton residents on waste management issues, Council agreed to continue soliciting residents’ views in other areas of the shire before implementing new waste management programs.
During my by-election campaign in 2011, I was asked how I would improve Council’s approach to community engagement. My response was simply “One small step at a time”. In 12 short months I have seen attitudes within communities change from outright cynicism towards Council to one of appreciation for simply taking the trouble to talk to people before making decisions that have a direct impact on their lives.
It has taken a lot of time and effort on the part of just a few councillors to make this happen, but the group of candidates who have joined me on the Community Voice ticket share my belief in the importance of this level of community engagement. By sharing the load, we may be able to take even bigger steps.
Achieving transparency in governance is somewhat more of a challenge as it really comes down to the integrity of the individual. First and foremost, it’s about acting in the public interest, putting the public good before personal gain. Transparency is not about one’s own view of a situation, but about the public’s view of the situation. To achieve this sort of transparency, once again, it is important to be actively engaged with the broader community.
Local Government is, above all else, about people and the Community Voice team will work to ensure that this is foremost on the agenda of the next Palerang Council. Community engagement at all stages of the planning cycle will help to ensure that development is consistent with the amenity and character of individual localities.
For more information about the Community Voice team visit our website at palerangcommunityvoice.org.au.