- ACT ELECTION POLICY STATEMENT
A radical approach to communities is needed by Councils according to the ACT TEAM.
"It is time to totally re-examine the concepts of community consultation by Councils, of community governance and social capital in planning our city's future," stated Cr Kerrie Christian, Active Community Team Councillor on Wollongong Council, "we need to stop and not only just ask "is the Council doing things right?" but also "is the Council doing the right things?"
According to the Active Community Team, Councils need to listen to their communities differently and involve them even more effectively in decisionmaking - some might refer to it by the current buzz words "SOCIAL CAPITAL".
However, according to Cr Christian, the ACT Team believes that the social capital buzz words are simply about giving people the chance to talk and then really taking notice of what they say about they believe should happen in their communities.
"It's real consultation -much more than surveys, which are all too- don't promote innovative ideas - because they may be designed to audit a pre-set agenda," commented Cr Christian.
Fellow ACT Team candidate, Trevor Mott, Ward 4 agreed stating, "all around the world there is a real awakening of the value people in communities can bring to being genuinely involved in decisionmaking and planning for their neighbourhoods - call it social capital if you like."
The Active Community Team believes that this radical change can be achieved by :
· Allocate 20 minutes at the start of each Council meeting for statements by the public -follow models set by Rockdale and other metropolitan councils
· Creation of a Youth Council -to provide advice on youth issues
· Establish a Council Ombudsman - investigate community grievances, similar to that being established by Sutherland Shire Council
· Openness, Accountability & Accessibility - ensure that there is genuinely more open access to information on council procedures, policies, forwarding planning at Libraries and improve the information available to the public on the internet site
· Return to the Proportional Election System as used in 170 of the 177 NSW councils - WE ARE IN DANGER OF ELECTING A COUNCIL COMPOSED TOTALLY OF ALP BECAUSE OF THE OPTIONAL PREFERENTIAL SYSTEM AND THE "ABOVE THE LINE" VOTING METHOD
· Reforming Neighbourhood Committees - and the Neighbourhood Placed-Based Planning as used in the City of Seattle - provide them with more detailed information and promote more effective and innovative input from them
· Re-integrate responsibility for policymaking and service delivery - recognise that the community sees this as artificial, alienating and dodging accountability- despite the strength of the ideological dogma which says that these two planks should be separated, and which has dominated all levels of western governments over the last 10 years - look at Sydney Water crisis and ACT government.
"Council must stop being seen as a secret body," stated Mr Mott, "it must be open to all."
Return to Kerrie's Main ACT Web Page
Authorised Cr Kerrie Christian - 1/09/99 - contact - ph 0408 115 099 Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!
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