“The Community Strategic Plan represents the highest level of strategic planning undertaken by a local council,” the Office of Local Government says. “All other plans developed by the council as part of the Integrated Planning and Reporting framework must reflect and support the implementation of the Community Strategic Plan.”
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MidCoast Council will place on public exhibition a draft of its first community strategic plan – “MidCoast 2030: Shared vision, shared responsibility” – from January 8 to February 23.
“The Community Strategic Plan (CSP) is our roadmap for the future of MidCoast,” the draft plan states. “It expresses our community's vision and values and outlines how we must work together to make it a reality.”
The vision and values were developed from the "What is MidCoast" identity project in 2016.
“We asked the community what they loved most about the area and how we could build upon it,” council states. “The vision and values developed set the tone and direction for council's planning for the future.
“The CSP will be developed by the community, for the community; and council will act as its custodian. While the plan sets the agenda for councils' activities, other government departments, businesses and community organisations are also crucial in delivering our community's aspirations.”
Council considered the draft plan at its December meeting. It allocated $5000 toward engagement and communication activities related to the draft plan.
As outlined in MidCoast Council's Community Engagement Policy, council’s engagement strategy utilises the five-point framework developed by the International Association for Public Participation.
The proposed level of engagement for each stakeholder is:
- Inform - to provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, benefits and/or solutions
- Consult - to obtain public feedback on alternatives, projects and/or designs
- Involve - to work directly with the public throughout the decision-making process to ensure that community concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.
- Collaborate - to partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution.
- Empower - where council and community work in partnership to implement action and build community capacity
