“The world over citizens want better consultation by their governments. Council have revised our Community Engagement Policy. Our goal is to be better at listening to our residents.” said Deputy Mayor of Greater Shepparton City Council, Cr Rob Priestly.
Now available on the Council website, this updated version of the Community Engagement
Policy is looking for feedback, due in by Friday, January 29.
The policy has been updated to reflect a deeper level of engagement with the community with consultative and deliberative engagement included as part of the engagement process.
The changes to the policy are modelled on the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation which is designed to assist with selecting the level of participation by the public for particular consultations. These processes are either consultative or deliberative and involve different levels of participation by the public.
“Once adopted, this Policy commits our council to a higher standard for engagement,” Cr Priestly said.
“This policy is supported by recent changes in the Local Government Act. Residents can now be sure that Council needs to undertake deliberative engagement when preparing documents such as the Council Plan and the Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan.”
