FAQs

Q. What is Community Engagement?

Community Engagement is a process not an outcome.  It's a two-way mechanism by which the community participates by providing input for Council's consideration in decision making.

For the City of Holdfast Bay's consultation intiatives, Community Engagement can be defined as:

Any process that involves the community in problem solving, evaluation or decision making and considers public input to make decisions.

Effective engagement offers Council a wide range of benefits including:

• Ensures Council is fully informed, understand and considers the full impact of decisions.
• Helps Council to identify and explore the needs of the community, plan for services and infrastructure and, as a result, make better informed, more accepted and sustainable decisions to better meet community needs and aspirations.
• Enhances efficiency and effectiveness as community participation highlights concerns, priorities, focus areas and risks and, in deliberation, ensures Council implements actions in a way that anticipates and mitigates potential challenges and risks.
• Strengthens the connection and relationship between the community and its Council representatives.
• Encourages a sense of belonging, place, community spirit and pride, which increases the desirability of the City of Holdfast Bay as a place to live, work and play.
• Facilitates the building of local networks and encourages people to participate in civic life with a greater understanding of the role and operation of local government.
• Ideally, it makes tough, unpopular or divided decisions more sustainable by creating due process, integrity and transparency, acknowledging that not everyone is going to be completely happy or satisfied all of the time.
• Allows for a broader range of views to be expressed and considered prior to making decisions.
• Provides opportunties for community members to contribute to and influence outcomes that directly affect their lives.

Q. What is Your View HQ?

Your View HQ is an online engagement tool which provides an opportunity for the community to discuss and be more involved in important consultations that will guide the City of Holdfast Bay and enhance its understanding of areas of interest and issues important to the community. Your View HQ will provide a centralise hub for exploring options for decision making.

The online forum will better assist the community in providing feedback to Council on a topics and matters that relate to a wide variety of areas, such as:

• Council Services
• Projects and Initiatives
• The Environment
• Social Issues
• Economic Issues
• Facilities and Intrastructure
• Future Opportunities and Directions

Participants will be asked to contribute to online discussions and surveys and will have access to detailled information such as maps, drawings, concept briefs and images. These will be available in the online library of the online forum established for the consultation.

Q. What are the Advantages of Online Engagement?

Online community engagement can encourage greater participation in engagement activities by providing additional avenues for members of the community to voice their views, which are less limited by constraints such as place, time and other access restrictions.

The key benefits include:

• It is a quick, safe and convenient way to have your say on a range of issues and topics.
• It is a great way to keep up to date on issues affecting your community.
• It provides a place where conversations can occur - You can see what other community members think about an issue or topic, and then respond with your own views.
• You don't have to attend community meetings at a set place and time.
• It allows for a range of different people, with different views to discuss matters that impact on your community.

Q. How Can I Participate?

Simply click on the SIGN UP tab at the top right hand of the page, when prompted create a USERNAME (Note: your comments will appear under your user name and you can comment anonymously through a username of your choice) create a PASSWORD of your choice, provide a valid email address, your age, gender and the location in which you live as well as your key topics of interest.

Q. What Will Happen With My Comments?

When you submit a comment to a consultation forum, your comment will be posted online where others can read and comment on your suggestion.  Council's Engagement team will also have an opportunity to further explore ideas or suggestions with you in greater detail via the forum where needed, to ensure we have a good understanding of what you propose.

When each forum is complete, all contribitions are compiled into a report, which will be presented to Council when considering the particular matter.  A copy of the report will also be posted on Your View HQ for reference, removing any identification.

Additionally, comments provided in other mediums will be uploaded into the project library for others to view and reference.

Please note that all feedback provide during consutlation will be considered, however this does not mean that every suggestion will be taken on board and adopted as proposed.

Q. Is It Really Anonymous?

Yes! Your privacy is totally protected because the panel is hosted and moderated by an external independent organisation, Bang the Table, ensuring Council does not have access to users' personal details.

Bang the Table does not identify users or provide their email details to Council. This is stated in Bang the Table's privacy statement and in their contract with clients.

Q. How does Community Engagement link to Council's Strategic Plan?

Council has a strategic plan which outlines the key objectives and priorites for the City of Holdfast Bay for the next 3 years.

Community engagement is given the highest priority and Council is committed to ensuring the community are involved and consulted when determining the types and levels of services that Council delivers.

In particular, Council has a commitment to:

• Better inform our community of the range and nature of services that we deliver;
• Encourage greater community involvement in determining the types and levels of services that we deliver;
• Explore consultation methods to enhance community engagement and participation; and
• Promote aspects of our City that 'sets us apart' from others and market the appeal of our seaside location.

Q. How is the Site Moderated?

All moderation is carried out by Bang the Table and is independent of the City of Holdfast Bay. The moderators do not edit or alter any comments and will only remove comments deemed to be significantly off topic, offensive or malicious, in which case they are removed form the site immediately. Refer to the guidelines at the 'Moderation' tab in the menu bar at the bottom of the page.

Q. Who Can I Contact About Your View HQ?

The content on Your View HQ is managed by the City of Holdfast Bay's Community Engagement Unit. If you have any questions about content, or Council's consultation and engagement, please contact us by email at XXX@holdfast.sa.gov.au or by calling 8229 9999.