The Canada Bay City Council in NSW, in consultation with The newDemocracy Foundation, is taking a unique step towards community engagement in local government decisions and service provision. The new strategy, which has been approved by Council, mixes contemporary methods of surveying and engagement with an approach that is being overseen by The newDemocracy and involves the appointment of a citizens’ panel.
The Council and newDemocracy will be inviting a random selection of 1500 residents of Canada Bay to put in expressions of interest to become part of a 36 member panel that will make recommendations to Council about the range and levels of service provided. The panel will be selected on the basis of achieving a true demographic representation of the City of Canada Bay, enabling residents to make recommendations on the allocation of the current budget of $300 million over four years.
Mayor Angelo Tsirekas comments that, “It’s a case of services for the people, decided by the people, and so it should be. This is a forward thinking and challenging process, but Council wants to ensure it meets residents’ needs.”
Once selected, the panel will meet and, with assistance from newDemocracy members and relevant experts, agree upon and set the guidelines for participation and decision making, ensuring that even when there is a bias, constructive and critical thinking is applied to the issue. Over the period it is intended that the panel meet on five occasions, making recommendations as to Council services and preferred sources of funding. Other community consultation processes will be used to supplement and enrich the work of the panel, with findings presented to Council in October this year.
“Council is very excited about taking this innovative step to use this mixed unique consultative approach and we look forward to the process. We will keep residents and other stakeholders informed of progress along the way,” said Mayor Tsirekas.
Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, Founder of The newDemocracy Foundation, said, “We are full of admiration for the Mayor and Councillors who have taken this leap of faith in their own community. This is what democracy is all about: to organise ourselves for no other purpose but for ourselves.”
