COUNCIL is in the final stages of the community consultation which will allow it to develop the Community Strategic Plan – Murrumbidgee 2030.
“A telephone survey conducted by an independent third party commenced last week. Council has retained the services of Micromex to conduct this survey,” council general manager, Carolyn Upston said.
“They have considerable experience and expertise specifically in the area of community consultation and community satisfaction surveys for local government.
“While many ideas were collected from the community during the Dreaming Workshops, this survey will be used to prioritise those ideas.
“Participants will be asked to rate the importance of a number of issues and the data collected will be returned to council to assist them in prioritising the goals of the community.
“This information should tell us whether they become immediate priorities or more long-term projects.”
Following on from the telephone survey, anyone who wants to participate and didn’t get the opportunity to will be able to access a link from council’s web page to complete the same survey.
“Other questions in the survey ask people to give their perceptions on the level of service council is currently providing and this will give us a starting point so that we can monitor when we improve in our service delivery,” Ms Upston said. “I think we are doing a good job now but obviously the views of the public are critical in making an accurate assessment.
“This information will also be used as the starting point to monitor our progress over the coming years.”
The process from here is that a draft Community Strategic Plan will be presented to the March council meeting and then put on exhibition for public comment.
That will be the last chance for community input until the plan is reviewed in a year’s time.
Murrumbidgee Shire Council launched a Facebook page at the end of December.
This is a place where the latest news can be provided by council to the public and the public can make comments on anything relating to council.
“I see have an open online forum through the social media is the ultimate way for us to be transparent and accountable,” general manager Caroyln Upston said.
“Posts will not be censored unless they are offensive and I undertake to respond to any posting by the public by the close of the next business day.
“I am disappointed that there has been so little interest in the page.
“Maybe I have overestimated the power of the social media or perhaps I have misjudged the number of people in our shire who are Facebook users.
“I know from other councils in NSW that while it took a while for their Facebook pages to catch on. They have become an incredibly popular means of communication for council and residents alike.”
Ms Upston has also made a request on council’s Facebook page calling for quality photographs of the shire for use by council in future documents and on council’s web page.
“Council’s photographic library could do with expansion and updating. Rather than pay a professional photographer to take shots for us, I have found in the past that locals have the very best photographs of their favourite things and places,” Ms Upston said.
“Photos can be of scenery, local icons, local events or anything that depicts our region, what we do and our lifestyle. The person who has taken the photograph retains ownership and copyright and grants council usage of the photograph. Credit will always be given to the photographer when the photo is used.”
“I’m even aware of one instance where the publicity gained by a photographer from the use and acknowledgement of their photos launched a successful career in photography.”
Interested people should contact council’s office on 6960 5500.
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