Community Engagement

Council engages our local Community to comment and provide valuable contributions to current and future projects of Council.

 

Projects

Solar Street Light Project 2012

Council have received Federal Government funding assistance to install solar street lighting within the District to improve public safety.

Please review the attached location plan and provide comments for consideration in writing to our office by close of business Friday 24 February 2012. Email: council@orroroo.sa.gov.au or Post: PO Box 3 Orroroo SA 5431

DCOC_Solar_Light_Locations(162 kb) 

 

About Community Engagement

Community participation is integral to recognising human rights and strengthening civil society. It promotes trust and respect between the community and government by enabling stakeholders to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. It enhances openness and accountability on the part of Local Government.

Effective community engagement has benefits for both government and the Community. Government benefits through access to a diverse range of skills, experiences and knowledge from within the Community, and develops a clearer understanding of community priorities and needs.

Civil society is strengthened when the Community and government work together. This can lead to enhanced service delivery and the development of a more inclusive community that works together to address complex issues. Participation in public life is a right under the Human Rights Act 2004; where every citizen has the right, and is to have the opportunity, to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives (Sec17a.)

What is Community Engagement?

Community engagement is any activity that enables the Council to:

• respond to issues raised by the community;
• inform the community about proposed government policies and actions;
• provide the opportunity for the community to voice an opinion on proposed government policies and proposals;
• invite the community to submit propsals for government consideration; or
• work more closely with the community to shape policy options and priorities.

Engagement with the community is an everyday feature of local government business. It can be as simple as responding to a telephone query from a member of the public or more complex, requiring community input to a major policy proposal.

Community engagement is usually initiated by Council, but is essentially a two-way flow of information on issues that affect the community. In this context, community engagement provides valuable information and input to government decision-making.

Community Engagement in Practice

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to community engagement. The development of each engagement activity will depend on the:

• issue open for consideration;
• size and diversity of the community affected by the issue;
• depth of interest or concern about the issue;
• scope for flexibility in policy/program/process outcomes;
• time and resources available; and
• extent of any prior engagement and/or policy development on the issue.

It is strongly recommended for large projects, policies and strategies seeking comprehensive feedback, twelve weeks consultation period is recommended.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Community Engagement?

Community Engagement refers to consultation, involvement and participation with residents and services users. These are the ways in which we find out the views of local people to inform the decisions we make.

Q. What is the difference between consultation, involvement and participation?

There is a spectrum of engagement from consultation with residents about services through to the continuous participation of residents in making decisions and delivering services.

Q. Why do we engage with you?

We want to engage with people to ensure that you have an opportunity to have a say on the issues that are important to you, on services that you want and to be responsive to your needs.

Q. How do we engage with you?

We have a number of ways in which we engage with local people including specific activity to get your views on particular issues. These activities include public meetings, online surveys and forums, telephone surveys, discussion groups, focus groups, seminars and workshops.

Q. How can I get involved?

You can get information on how to get involved through this website, the Community Noticeboard and the Goyders Line Gazette. You could be involved in a specific consultation activity by making comments on a discussion paper, completing a survey or attending a meeting, a workshop or a site visit.

Q. Why can’t I get involved in all engagement activity?

Ideally, everyone would get involved in every engagement activity. However, this is not practical and not everybody wants to be involved. Good engagement is about ensuring that we have a representative view of what people think.

Q. How will I find out what Community Engagement activity is happening and what the findings are?

You can visit this website to find out about current and future consultation activities. The outcomes of the community engagement activities are provided during the routine reporting of Council.

Q. Are there instances when the Council will not consult about certain issues?

Not every issue or decision is available for consultation as this would not be practically possible. Your local Elected Member can advise you further on this and be a valuable source to communicate with your Council on any issue.  Council welcomes the Elected Members communications to use the views of residents to help them make decisions.

Q. Why are some decisions made that do not appear to reflect what our local people said?

There are lots of issues that the Council has to consider and balance when making decisions. These include government policy and guidelines and resource constraints, as well as the diverse views of the community. The views of the community will always be considered, but decisions may also reflect these other issues.

Q. How do we ensure that we get the views of a cross section of our community?

Good quality engagement activity that is well planned and executed will be inclusive and accessible to a cross-section of the community. This ensures that we get a representative view of what people think. Sometimes we will engage on issues that are of particular importance and interest to a specific part of the community. Community Engagement will then be targeted to this group.