New Queensland Government data shows size doesn’t matter when it comes to communication, with Balonne, Banana and Maranoa Regional Councils among the State’s top performers in community engagement.
Queensland Minister for Local Government Desley Boyle said that 54 councils responded to the Department of Infrastructure and Planning’s community engagement survey.
Data from the survey showed that councils recognise the value of communication, with 90 per cent reporting that they used a range of methods to keep ratepayers informed.
In addition, 51.9 per cent of councils allocated specific community engagement roles and responsibilities to staff, and 44.4 per cent had a community engagement management guide in place or a consistent communications process.
Minister Boyle said having a community engagement policy in place enables councils to identify the most effective and cost efficient ways to inform residents about different issues, as well as better inform council decision making.
“As well as looking at whether an advertisement in the local paper or a community meeting is needed, councils need to be considering community engagement in all aspects of Local Government business,” she said.
“Having a formal community engagement policy arms councils to better plan for the future.”
Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) was among the other councils named in Queensland’s overall top 14 community engagement performers.
SDRC Mayor Ron Bellingham said that community engagement is one of Council’s top priorities, especially with the unique obstacles amalgamation brought to the region.
“It was a significant issue for the new Council in terms of what was going on and what the changes meant for the community,” he said. “Transparency was also on the agenda as councillors recently visited ‘far flung’ areas of the district to gauge and interact with the community, which often included heated debate.”
The Queensland Government will continue to regularly collect data to support councils as they move to self reporting.
This will enable councils and their communities to compare performance and track council progress.
Other top performing councils identified in the survey included Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Mackay, Moreton Bay, Redland and Scenic Rim.
The report on the annual return on community engagement 2009 was prepared by the Department of Infrastructure and Planning and is available online at www.dip.qld.gov.au
