The City of Greater Geelong’s Community Engagement Policy Report was last night presented to Council.
The report outlines the key community engagement achievements and statistics for the 12 months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The summary of key highlights and statistics from the Community Engagement Policy Report includes:
- 72 projects being shared with the community for feedback through the Have Your Say website in the 2022-23 year.
- An increase in the number of submissions by 103 percent via the Have Your Say website.
- A 30 percent increase in new Have Your Say registered members.
- An increase of five percent in the number of people who have visited the Have Your Say website to 82,891 from the previous year.
- 47 percent of the City’s engagements were hybrid (a combination of face-to-face and online).
There was more deliberate and timely engagement with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The City has continued to improve the accessibility and inclusiveness of engagements (including translation support, face-to-face engagements and ‘Join Us’ campaign.
The City of Greater Geelong Community Engagement Policy was adopted at Council’s meeting in March 2021.
Under the policy, the City has committed to presenting an impact report to Council each year.
The City’s most visited Have Your Say pages for the year to 31 March 2023 were for Market Square Masterplan (3,361 visitors), Dogs in Public Places Policy Review (2,607 visitors), Ocean Grove Sporting Infrastructure Plan (2,475 visitors).
The full Community Engagement Policy Impact Report 2022-2023 is available online.
Mayor Trent Sullivan
Pleasingly we have seen growth in many key areas, with submissions soaring on the back of more than 80,000 people visiting the Have Your Say page.
The feedback means we better understand community sentiment, and this is central to Council’s decision making.
We have wanted our community consultations to be accessible and inclusive, and to better engage Wadawurrung Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
Councillor Ron Nelson
Community engagement brings people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives together to share their diverse views and shape the future.
We can always do better, and we hope that the community engages further with City of Greater Geelong.
The different perspectives and ideas put forward help officers and the Council to make informed decisions in line with community views and values.
The stronger focus on issues via deliberative engagement methods has allowed more issues to be explored in depth over a longer period of time.
