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Neighbourhood Committees - POLICY ACHIEVED 1991/1995 Term of Council
From its inception in 1983 the Active Community Team has championed participatory democracy - calling for the creation of Neighbourhood Advisory Groups. Dave Martin was unsuccessful in gaining any support for the concept in 1983 from either ALP or Arkell aldermen. He subsequently established such a committee in Ward 1. Community consultation is a key part of the ACT's philosophy. Ultimately the Ward One advisory group led to the formation of the umbrella group CANS, Community Alliance of Northern Suburbs in 1987. CANS in 1988-89 conducted extensive community consultations across every suburb in Ward One on planning & environmental issues. Representatives, who included current ACT councillors, used the findings of these consultations in their lengthy negotiations with Council for the local environment plan, LEP 1990. Neighbourhood Committees were finally introduced in the 1991/1995 term of council.
Right of Public to Address Council through Public Address Forum
At the 1999 Council elections the Active Community Team committed to gaining the right for the public to address council meetings - this initiative has already been achieved within the current 1999-2003 term of council
Creation of Internal Council Ombudsman
At the 1999 Council elections the Active Community Team committed to the creation of an internal council ombudsman - this has already been achieved within the current 1999-2003 term of council
Youth Advisory Council
At the 1999 Council elections the Active Community Team committed to the creation of a Youth Advisory Council - this has been achieved with the formation of the Youth Advisory Committee in current 1999-2003 term of council
Community Representation on Central Wollongong Planning Committee
In July 2002 ACT Councillor Kerrie Christian tried to get NC6 to have full representation onto the Central Wollongong Planning Committee - and ACT was successful in achieving this at the August 2002 Council meeting. The area covered by the Central Wollongong Planning Committee, which is within Cr Darling and Cr Wood's Ward 3, is covered by Neighbourhood Committee 6, which had been trying to get onto the Central Wollongong Planning Committee for months.
Community Development & Empowerment - Building Social Capital
Since 1991 ACT has argued for Community Development & Empowerment - more belatedly referred to as building social capital. This is in opposition to the styles of some council bureaucrats, who have sought to create divisions between and within neighbourhoods on planning issues. The advocacy role for community workers and neighbourhood centres can be to help residents in their neighbourhood learn how to circumvent the bureaucracy. The processes of community development, which includes community groups learning to advocate for themselves, doesn't generally happen overnight, and often people want someone else to do it. But as more residents learn how council bureaucracies work, what the unwritten conventions and agendas really are, then they can start to exert more power and influence in the council policies and decisons affecting their lives. And neighbourhood centre workers would no longer be trying to do all the advocacy themselves, and running themselves into the ground with the risk of burnout.
Elimination of Council Election Rorts
ACT has always been opposed to electoral rorts. In 1989 it fought strongly to have local wards reintroduced, which had been abolished in the mid 1980's when then ALP Caucus leader Norma Wilson approached NSW ALP Local Government Minister Janice Crosio to abolish wards in an unsuccessful effort to defeat the Arkell regime.
Since 1994 it has opposed the Optional Preferential System used by Wollongong Councils and only a handful of other councils in NSW. Wollongong Council has always faced the strong risk that it could follow in the footsteps of Botany Council in 1995, and return a council composed entirely of ALP councillors, with the city totally dictated by secret caucus decisionmaking - a city of silence and secrecy. Wollongong and Botany are two of only a handful of councils in NSW that use the Optional Preferential system for voting, whereas the other 170 of 177 councils use the Proportional system. What it means is that for a person to get elected in Wollongong, they need 50% of the votes - whereas in most councils you only need between 10 and 25%, thus it clearly favours major parties rather than smaller groups & independents. We need a balance of representation from different perspectives to lead the city into the 21st Century - not a city of secrecy and silence - dominated by the secret ALP caucus
Also with the "above the line" voting system, the almost total domination of the ALP was much more likely, with up to 80% of voters expected to vote above the line. Voting "above the line" was quietly introduced into local government legislation by the Bob Carr Labor government shortly before the March 1999 State election. Voting above the line is effectively cloaked in secrecy as most voters don't know where the candidates' preferences have been allocated, they can find them on the walls in the polling booths - but most people aren't aware of this. Voters can choose to vote below the line and in this way extend preferences beyond their first choices, and in this way they have a say in who finally gets elected, if their first choice is eliminated, with too few votes. At many elections, up to 30% of people find that their preferred candidates had been eliminated with too few votes and so they do not effectively have a say in who represents them. It is essential that voters number every square either above the line or below the line in order to make their votes count.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION POLICY - Active Community Team
The Active Community Team believes that local government is uniquely placed to implement a system of decision making which can be a model for a truly civil society. We support and will actively promote the use of a range of processes to lift democratic involvement, participation, direct decision making and delegated, representative decision making. We believe that decision making should be devolved to and taken as close as possible to the community involved.
In addition to their roles and rights of individuals and neighbourhood committees as they are currently constituted, the A.C.T. will strive for the following extensions of participation and decision making by neighbourhood committees and citizens of Wollongong.
1. Delegated, representative decision making
1.1 In the formal electoral process at a city wide level, the Active Community Team believes that multiple member constituencies based on historic, cultural and community ties (wards) are the most effective way for communities to be represented in the final, format decision making processes of Council.
1.2 We believe that councillor representation for each ward should be elected on a proportional basis to better reflect the diversity of character and make up within each ward.
1.3 We will work to convince the state government to allow Wollongong City Council to return to a system of 5 wards, each with three councillors and the retention of a popularly elected mayor. We believe that the current method of election and vote counting is far from ideal and we will work for the return of three member wards.
1.4 The A.C.T. supports the electronic recording of Councillor's votes on each issue.
1.5 The A.C.T believes in and wilt work for the creation of a Youth Council, comprised of senior high school students, the young employed and unemployed to advise and recommend to Council on matters of youth affairs and policy. A.C.T. will support the trialling of non-compulsory voting for 16 year old residents within the city. - POLICY ACHIEVED in current 1999-2003 Council Term
2. Participatory Decision making Reforming the Neighbourhood Committee system
2.1 The A.C.T. believes that the nature, composition and role of Neighbourhood Committees with an elected executive should be formally recognised in the decision making structures of the Council. Wollongong Council's policy on the creation, role and resourcing of Neighbourhood Committees is critical in further developing genuine involvement and participation and empowerment of communities to plan, organise and develop programs and priorities for action within their communities.
2.2 These committees should be the community's formal peak committee with which the Council should communicate, liaise and take account of in planning for, resourcing and delivering services to each community.
2.3 Neighbourhood Committees should have the right to formally call councillors to attend the regular meetings or an extraordinary meeting of that committee.
2.4 Neighbourhood committees will be given the power to request that the Council hold either an on-site meeting or an Informal Planning conference in relation to a particular development application.
2.5 Neighbourhood committees need to be funded and resourced to a level which provides all information relevant to decision making. The A.C.T. will ensure that each Neighbourhood Committee will be provided with:
· a permanent storage and office space for neighbourhood committee resources, preferably located at the venue of neighbourhood committee meetings
· an increased level of secretarial support including a fax machine, phone, photocopier
· an on line link with Council computer system
· funding and or production of 6 community newsletters per year
· prominent notice boards in each suburb, town or community.
These facilities should also be made available for and accessible to other community groups, e.g. bushcare, scouts, neighbourhood watch, etc. The content of the newsletters and notice boards will be at the discretion of the Neighbourhood Committee Executive provided that the content is in the community interest, legal and does not constitute political advocacy.
2.6 Three monthly forums will be held between the Executives of Neighbourhood Committees, senior council staff and councillors. One of these will be at the stage of formulation of the Corporate Plan.
2.7 Neighbourhood Committees need to be encouraged to, skilled in and be able to initiate positive policies and plans for community improvements. The A.C.T. will formally move to empower neighbourhood committees to be able to submit recommendations to Council and committees for their consideration and be entitled to have them debated and deliberated upon by the Council
2.8 Neighbourhood Committees will be the key community consultative and decision making group in a newly formulated Neighbourhood Planning or Precinct Planning Scheme. The preferred model is based on that of the City of Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
3 Openness, Accessibility and accountability
3.1 At the council level, the A.C.T. supports open committee and Council meetings, with open deliberation of all matters with the exception of personnel, legal issues and actual commercially privileged information.
3.2 The A.C.T. will dedicate the first 20 minutes of each council meeting to representations from the community. This public access session will provide for individual petitioners, group submissions, grievances and policy suggestions. - POLICY ACHIEVED in current 1999-2003 Council Term
3.3 The A.C.T. will move to have Council policies, business papers and development applications available on Council's internee site.
3.4 The A.C.T. will ensure the Council implements a policy of open access to all documents subject to exclusions on the basis of commercial privacy and sensitivity, private matters. All files will be open to public perusal. Inspection of these should be subject to reasonable charges for Council officer time for supervision and administration and copying.
4 A Wollongong Council Ombudsman
4.1 The A.C.T. will pursue the creation of the position of Wollongong Council ombudsman, who will investigate claims by citizens with grievances about their dealings with any Council officer, department or Councillor. - POLICY ACHIEVED in current 1999-2003 Council Term
4.2 The ombudsman shall be given all necessary and reasonable claims to investigate, research and report findings directly to the elected Councillors. The position must be at arms length from the Council administration and will not investigate claims made by Councillors.
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