Neighbourhood meetings a success for consultation

Published on 08 September 2015

Rockhampton Regional Council has just completed its last round of 'Community Conversation' meetings for this term.

For the first time, Council added meetings in school and community halls around Rockhampton in addition to its usual rural and service club meetings.

Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow says hosting meetings with residents in their own neighbourhood proved to be a more effective approach.

“We have struggled to get a good number of people at meetings in the city before, but taking the meetings into the suburbs and schools has proven much more successful than more centralised meetings,” Mayor Strelow said.

Council also took to the road and visited the Region’s rural communities twice this year where residents continued to form a strong presence.

“Rural ratepayers’ groups have always been very active and have been a great source of feedback into Council's budget and processes,” she said.

Mayor Strelow has also been a regular guest speaker at service clubs around the region on a regular basis and has recently finished this round with a large combined meeting of Rotarians at Athelstane House.

With the Community Conversations having come to a close, Mayor Strelow reassures residents that further consultation on Council’s major projects will be ongoing throughout the year.

“Of course we will continue to undertake consultation with the community as matters arise, such as the current discussions and surveys about the Riverbank and Quay Street designs  - but this was the last of our twice yearly scheduled meetings,” she said.