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Even though Joe McKay and Ted Drain have seemed totally at odds in their recent letters in their views on David Campbell's comments on Wollongong Council's town planning practices, in fact there is truth to be gleaned from both of their letters.
Ted is right to point out that Council's consultation policies and procedures are largely those introduced by David Campbell when he was Lord Mayor. And I agree with Joe that it is time to rethink how council does its consultation with the community. Although after finally introducing neighbourhood committees in 1993, we have come a long way from the 1980's when my fellow Active Community Team member, Dave Martin, faced total rejection from ALP and Arkell aldermen alike when he first proposed the precinct or neighbourhood committee community consultation model.
For the last 10 years the ALP councillors, under the leadership of both David Campbell and until recently George Harrison, have been able to effectively impose their will upon the community in relation to town planning matters. They have been instrumental in delivering us such controversies as those surrounding development proposals for the Escarpment foothills, Sandon Point, Thirroul Leagues Club, Thirroul Bowling Club, Cliff Rd High Rise, the Woonona Boral redevelopment site, and the Towradgi high rise now being developed near to the Champion Hotel.
For several years now I have been arguing that we need to look to best practice methods being used by other councils to consult with their communities, such as the Place Based Planning Method, rather than a single "one size fits all" approach to zoning across the city. So, I very much welcome David Campbell as he now gets on board to support this approach.
I have also been pursuing for months the Future Search approaches developed by Stephen Ames and Launceston Council. With this method the community can be totally involved in planning the future of our area from the beginning, instead of being handed a draft policy developed in isolation by council staff. Only by giving the community the chance to be involved from the beginning do we have any hope of gaining their ownership of council planning processes.
So Joe, as a loyal ALP member, I trust that you will do your best to persuade your fellow ALP members on Wollongong Council to get on board and involve the community more fully in creating our collective future.
ACT Team Councillor Kerrie Christian
Wollongong City Council.
Authorised - Kerrie Christian
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