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OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR 2024 · Report
ORDINARY MEETING 16 MAY 2024
9.2 OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR 2024
Author Community Engagement Advisor, Caroline Osborne
Communications & Community Engagement | Office of the CEO & Mayor
Index ECM Doc ID 23016004
Attachments 1. Schedule of Community Engagement to August 2024
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Noosa Council continues to design, plan and deliver an extensive program of community and
stakeholder engagement across the Noosa Shire. This includes several major strategic projects that
have benefitted from community insights to inform decision-making, together with ongoing targeted
engagement and communications projects.
Over the last term, Council engaged the community on a range of key strategic projects including,
but not limited to, the Waste Strategy 2023 - 2028, the Corporate Plan 2023 - 2028, the Housing
Strategy 2022, the Liveability Survey 2021, Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves Management
Plan, Destination Management Plan Phase 1, Noosa Drive Pathway Concept Designs, Noosaville
Foreshore Infrastructure Master Plan and Concepts for Resilience Phase 1 and the Noosa Regional
Gallery Future Needs and Options.
This term of Council continues to finalise a significant schedule of engagement for 2024 including,
but not limited to, the Destination Management Plan Phase 2, Amendment No.2 to the Noosa Plan
2020, Noosaville Foreshore Infrastructure Master Plan and Concepts for Resilience Phase 2, Noosa
Botanic Gardens Infrastructure Master Plan, Pomona Placemaking Pilot Phase 2 and a Council
decision on the next steps to take regarding the Noosa River Catchment Management Plan.
Due to the extensive program of ongoing community engagement and stakeholder communications
projects across the organisation, it is important that Council strategically conducts community
engagement and communications, in line with Council's Community Engagement Framework and
Policy. This will ensure that the community is engaged only on matters where community interest,
impact and influence will meaningfully inform Council decisions.
In matters where community interest, impact and influence are limited, Council will focus on
communications approaches to keep stakeholders and the community informed. By clearly
identifying the level of influence the community will have on a decision, and communicating this
accordingly, Council may minimise engagement fatigue within the community.
Council also continues to leverage valuable engagement data captured across other key strategic
projects to inform Council's ongoing operational priorities. For example, the quality and extent of
information gathered from community engagement in Phase 1 of the draft Destination Management
Plan continues to inform internal engagement and strategic directions such as parking management,
event management and infrastructure planning considerations.
On major strategic community engagement projects, Council continues to support approaches to
engagement that provide at least one or two opportunities for the community to engage. Where
feasible, Council also supports co-development opportunities with the local community, for example,
the Pomona Placemaking Pilot project.
In line with our Community Engagement Framework, Council will endeavour to close the loop with
the community, sharing what was heard from the community and how this has informed Council
decision-making.
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ORDINARY MEETING 16 MAY 2024
RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Ordinary Meeting dated 16 May
2024 regarding Council's community engagement program for the remainder of 2024.
REPORT
Chapter 1, section 4 (2)(c) of the Queensland Local Government Act 2009 outlines the need for local
government to engage with the community through “democratic representation, social inclusion and
meaningful community engagement”.
Noosa Council recognises that community engagement is a vital part of effective democracy. Quality
engagement between Council and residents across the Shire is critical to good governance and
supports strong, resilient communities. Noosa Council defines community engagement as people-
centred, with a clear focus on working with the community to identify local issues and opportunities
to guide and inform planning and decision-making.
Meaningful engagement is relationship-focused and not just a transactional process. For this reason,
Council is committed to engaging with the Noosa community in line with our Community Engagement
Framework and Community Engagement Policy, endorsed by Council in 2023. The Community
Engagement Framework is underpinned by the International Association of Public Participation
(IAP2) framework, which outlines international best practice approaches in community and
stakeholder engagement.
Our approach to community engagement within the Community Engagement Framework is
governed by a suite of guiding principles to ensure that all of our engagement activities are:
• Inclusive
• Transparent
• Appropriate
• Accountable
• Timely
• Well-resourced
• Informative and
• Understanding of our changing community.
Benefits of community engagement
As outlined in Noosa Council Community Engagement Policy 2023, the benefits of community
engagement include:
• Council and the community working together to address local issues and collectively
achieving better outcomes.
• A higher level of community input into decisions made by Council.
• An improved level of community understanding about Council’s processes and services.
• Increased awareness across Council of community views and concerns.
• Opportunities for Council to draw upon community expertise.
• The potential for time and cost savings due to better alignment between community needs
and Council decisions.
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ORDINARY MEETING 16 MAY 2024
• Increased social capital due to greater trust and knowledge acquired while working
collaboratively with the community.
• Stronger relationships between Councillors, council officers and residents, including
stakeholder groups.
Ongoing strategic initiatives to enhance Council’s community engagement capabilities
Noosa Council continues to enhance community engagement capabilities within the organisation
and through external initiatives, as outlined below.
Internal Capability
A range of internal capacity-building strategies are currently underway as part of continuous
improvement initiatives to enhance community engagement skills and practitioner expertise across
the organisation. This includes the development of an internal Community Engagement
Ambassadors Network, and investment in IAP2 aligned community engagement training for staff
across the organisation with engagement capabilities as part of their role.
The inaugural Community Engagement Ambassadors Network, led by the Community Engagement
Advisor, will be a network of internal engagement expertise and support, advocating for ways of
engaging our community that are in line with the Community Engagement Framework and our
obligations under the Local Government Act. IAP2 aligned training will elevate the level of skill and
confidence of key internal staff to design, plan and deliver high-quality engagement that assists
Council to make decisions that are informed by the aspirations and perspectives of our community
and stakeholders.
Further, Noosa Council has commenced investigation of other engagement platform options that can
optimise how we host engagement projects to engage the community to have their say and improve
internal workflows.
External Capability
Several initiatives are highlighted to enhance external engagement capabilities from 2024: improving
ways younger people are included in engagement and Council decision-making, re-introducing
Council Meetings in the community and Councillor Coffee Chats around the Shire.
Objective 4.4 in the Noosa Council Corporate Plan 2023 – 2038 is to “improve opportunities for
increased inclusion of young people in community engagement and decision-making to provide
relevant services, activities and opportunities.” Council has commenced investigations on how to
enhance engagement with younger people and harder-to-reach cohorts, and the Community
Engagement Ambassador Network will continue this work as a collaborative network of practitioners
to identify potential opportunities for the Executive Team and Council that also factor in the
commitments of time, resources and budget for consideration.
Council will re-introduce Council Meetings in the community and Coffee Chats with Councillors in
this term. The Council meetings in the community initiative builds on the Live Streaming capability
introduced in 2019 to improve the accessibility of Council’s General and Ordinary Meetings.
Forthcoming engagement
An extensive schedule of community and stakeholder engagement has been identified and
scheduling of engagement projects is subject to ongoing consultation with the Executive and
Councillor Teams. An outline of identified community engagement projects is attached.
How the community can engage to inform decision-making on Council projects
We encourage the community to stay informed and engage with Council on key strategic projects in
a range of ways.
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ORDINARY MEETING 16 MAY 2024 Residents can find out about new projects that are open for community engagement and under consideration at www.yoursay.noosa.qld.gov.au. The Your Say Noosa community engagement platform is one of the tools used by many government organisations to provide a range of information about live engagement projects and to provide a range of methods for the community to provide their input on a project asynchronously, including online surveys, discussion forums, ideas boards or spatial maps. Each community engagement project will provide relevant information on the project background and timeline, the input that Council is seeking from the community and how this information will be used to inform decision-making. Council’s community engagement platform is particularly useful for people who may not be able or prefer not to participate in face-to-face engagement opportunities. The platform also provides some accessibility features such as the ability to translate content into a range of languages. In accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Framework, we endeavour to “close the loop” with the community after every community engagement period (subject to a decision by Council) to advise how their input has informed decision-making. Interested residents can also register their details to be kept informed about new projects that align with their interests on www.yoursay.noosa.qld.gov.au. Residents are encouraged to follow Noosa Council on Facebook or Instagram to keep updated on engagement projects as well as Council events and services. We encourage active members of the community to share our posts about new community engagement projects and opportunities to engage with their network and local community boards if appropriate. Council has a social media policy that manages how we share our content to our official channels, so we do not post content on community boards, for example. Link to Corporate Plan Theme No. 4 - Future This theme is focused on our future, strengthening our relationship with First Nations peoples and to ensure our community is prepared and resilient to change. A focus on youth, climate resilience and adaptation, sense of place and destination management. This report specifically aligns to Objective 4.4 in the Noosa Council Corporate Plan 2023 – 2038 is to “improve opportunities for increased inclusion of young people in community engagement and decision-making to provide relevant services, activities and opportunities.” Previous Council Consideration Nil. Finance There are no financial or budgetary implications relevant to this report. Risk & Opportunities All projects identified as part of any forward engagement project planning are subject to consideration, scheduling and approval of Council's Executive Leadership Team and Councillors. Consultation External Consultation - Community & Stakeholder Nil.
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ORDINARY MEETING 16 MAY 2024
Internal Consultation
Departments consulted:
Office of the CEO, Mayor & Community Services Corporate Services
Councillors
X Mayor & Councillors X Director X Director
X Chief Executive Officer Community Development Financial Services
Executive Officers Sport & Active Lifestyles Fleet
X Community Engagement Arts & Culture Revenue Services
People & Culture Community Connection ICT
Governance Customer Experience Procurement
Commercial Property
Strategy & Environment Development & Regulation Infrastructure Services
X Director X Director X Director
Strategic Land Use Planning Development Assessment Infrastructure Planning,
Design and Delivery
Economic Development & Local Laws Civil and Asset operations
Destination Management
Environmental Services Environmental Health Waste
Innovation & Digital Hub Building & Plumbing Building & Facilities
Property / Permits Disaster Management