Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel

Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel is an initiative by Council designed to engage Shire residents of all ages and backgrounds. Through the panel, members will provide valuable feedback, opinions and ideas on issues that face the Shire.

Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel has begun its preliminary pilot period that will involve gathering a standing group of panel members and consulting with them on specific topics or areas of concern. Residents may opt-in to become members by filling out the sign up form.

Residents' Panel Newsletter

Panel members will receive quarterly newsletters via email or mail with invitations to take part in surveys, focus groups, workshops or public forums.

After an initial pilot and review, Council will seek to build the panel to 2,000-3,000 members. Ideally the panel would comprise of a demographically representative 1% of the Shire's population.

The aim of the panel is to be a simple and unifying engagement process that is interesting and relevant. The panel is in line with Council's Community Consultation Policy and the Community Strategic Plan.

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What's New?

What a glorious day we had on August 16 at Fiesta in Flight! Perfect conditions brought out the crowds for a fun filled day of camel rides, kites and music. We had a fabulous response from the community and are looking forward to our next event.

The Your Shire, Your Say team also attended the Shire Coffee Festival in Peace Park, Sutherland on July 12. A big thank you to all our new members who braved the drizzle and signed up on the day.

Also a big thanks to all those that signed up at the Leader Home Show, Sutherland Basketball Stadium, Waratah Park, Sutherland on August 29-30, and at the Cronulla Spring Festival 12-13 September.

The residents' panel is on its way to 200 members!

your shire your say consulting
The Your Shire, Your Say team consult with the community

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Key information

Who can be involved?

Residents of Sutherland Shire who choose to participate in the panel
Target of 200-300 members in the pilot period, with an aim to grow to 2,000-3,000 members
The aim is to gain broad representation that can be used to demonstrate the viewpoints of the Shire community
Residents who also work or hold elected posts at Council are not able to join the panel

What is the process?

Research is conducted to determine a topic of concern
Panel members may provide feedback by participating in community engagement activities such as online surveys, focus groups and community forums
Panel members may be randomly selected for consultations. Depending on the topic of the consultation, panel members may be selected from within specific groups, for example, age range or suburb of residence
Council analyses the information gathered and informs participants how their feedback will be used

When will I get involved?

Panel members can choose to participate as much or as little as they like
A quarterly newsletter will be sent either via mail or email
There are no committee meetings

The results

Your Shire, Your Say will provide Council with the opportunity to discover community needs, ideas and aspirations
Your Shire, Your Say will allow residents to gain ownership and understanding of the processes and outcomes of Council matters
Members will be updated with highlights from consultation on a quarterly basis through the Your Shire, Your Say newsletter

Individual or group membership

Individuals who would like to become members may fill out basic demographic information and contact details which will be used for statistical purposes only
Groups and organisations may fill out the details of their organisation and representatives can invite their members to participate

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Privacy

Council is committed to protecting the privacy of members of the community who participate in consultation activities, including members of Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel. The supply of personal information is voluntary and Council collects the personal information for statistical use only.

Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel operates in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Spam Act 2003.

For more information about privacy, please see Council's Privacy Management Plan or contact the Your Shire, Your Say team.

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Contact the Strategic Planning Unit

If you have any enquiries about Your Shire, Your Say Residents' Panel, please contact:

Telephone:

(02) 9710 0684

Fax:

(02) 9710 0935

Email:

survey@ssc.nsw.gov.au

Postal Address:

Your Shire, Your Say
Strategic Planning Unit
Sutherland Shire Council
Locked Bag 17
Sutherland NSW 1499

Find out more about the Strategic Planning Unit

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