Residents are invited to sign up to Council’s new Community Engagement Register, a database of local community members who are interested in participating in community engagement activities. The database is part of Council’s commitment to improve community engagement.
Following sign-up, members will receive a regular e-newsletter from Council, linking them to opportunities to contribute to Council’s decision-making processes. Opportunities might include workshops, community reference or advisory groups, surveys, focus groups, written submissions, and meetings with community groups. Residents can opt out of the email updates anytime.
Communications will include general updates as well as special invitations – the Register is designed to engage members in opportunities relevant to them. Demographic information required upon sign-up (e.g. town of residence, age, gender) will allow Council to link members to opportunities likely to be important, relevant and interesting to them. This means, if there is an important opportunity open to young people only, members who fall into the younger age group might receive a special invitation to participate. Similarly, if there is a workshop in Smythesdale about a particular project, members who live in or near Smythesdale might receive an invitation via email.
The other benefit to members is that they can receive project updates and outcomes via email as well, which allows residents to stay informed and see how their feedback has fed into Council’s decision-making processes.
Residents are reminded they can stay in touch with engagement opportunities via Council’s Have Your Say page.