Council has entered into a formal partnership with the University of Western Sydney (UWS) to develop a social and environmental profile of the Local Government area. This is believed to be a first in Australia.
“It is a unique partnership combining the expertise of Council officers, university staff and some students,” said Mayor Geoff Brooke-Cowden.
“Under the direction of Professor Val Brown and with extensive input from Council officers, the work involves carrying out community surveys and consultations. It provides an up to date database to assist with our forward planning and resource allocation.”
The Mayor pointed out that currently data is usually only available two to five years after it has been collected.
“There is no system in place to give policy makers, in Federal, State or Local Governments, either a current or predictive analysis of community needs,” he said.
“We are always acting retrospectively and, with dollars becoming increasingly scarce, we must be extremely careful how we spend what is available.”
Baulkham Hills’ method for data collection evolved from the successful consultation process Council used during the development of its Environmental Management Plan.
“It has been a huge learning process,” the Mayor said.
“We found that we needed to use a modified approach because with environmental issues people were more than willing to express their views without too much encouragement from us.
“Communication is the key to ensure we do actually obtain the views of all relevant groups, not just those that are most vocal.”
This successful partnership between Council and UWS has been operating for two years and will continue on an ongoing basis indefinitely.
