council
What is the Residents Panel all about
Local government has an essential capacity to connect and engage people and build community. The Residents' Panel is Parramatta City Council's deliberate strategy to engage the community in quality participative governance.
Parramatta City Council is committed to delivering the best possible services to the commununity and to increase accountability and transparency in Council's decision making and provide an avenue for community input and feedback.
The Residents' Panel aims to meet the challenges of the changing community of Parramatta by developing flexible and creative consultation methods. By consulting residents' on policies, services and strategies going forwards we will enable resident empowerment in the direction of the City of Parramatta.
Therefore by establishing a Residents' Panel, Council will be able to:
- Better understand the needs and aspirations of the community
- Involve members of the community in decision making processes
- Develop ongoing partnerships with our community
- Empower the community
- Make informed decisions
- Increase transparency and accountability in decision making
Why have a Residents' Panel
As the community of Parramatta is changing in many different respects it is particularly important to engage the community and encourage regular input into policy, strategy and Council initiatives.
By having a Residents' Panel we are able to ask individuals on a one to one basis their own opinion on important community issues and be able to bring this together to produce a community voice.
What does the Residents' Panel Do
Members of the Residents’ Panel are involved in important consultations that will help Parramatta City Council in its understanding of important community areas, Council services and provide a basis for decision making to reflect the communities opinions.
By joining the Parramatta City Council Residents' Panel you will be able to provide us with your say on matters that relate to a wide variety of areas, such as:
- The Environment
- Social Issues
- Economic Issues
- Housing Issues
- Council Services
- The future direction for the City of Parramatta.
By having your say you will help Council in its decision making so that it will reflect the Communities opinions.
Members of the Residents’ panel are also provided the necessary information for consultations where seen appropriate. For example a consultation on the future outlook and design of the CBD may require maps, drawings and visuals to be supplied to members so that can express they views.
The Residents’ Panel would seek to conduct 4 major pieces of consultation work each year (Feb, May, Aug, Nov). However it is envisaged that there may be a need to conduct various ad hoc research projects from time to time where appropriate.
Panel members would be asked to:
- Complete Surveys – using mail, phone and also email based
- Attend Focus groups – possibly in person & Online
- Be involved in In-depth interviews
- Attend Public meetings
- Attend Workshops
It is OK if a member is unable to complete any consultation for any reason. This is totally an opt-in process.
