We believe the best decisions are made when our community has the opportunity to be involved.
Community engagement is how we listen, learn and work with our community to better understand local knowledge, ideas and aspirations. Whether we're planning a new park, reviewing a local policy or developing long-term strategies, your feedback helps us make more informed decisions.
Every project is different, which is why we tailor our engagement approach to suit the project, its complexity and the level of community impact.
Community engagement helps us:
When do we engage?
We engage whenever there is an opportunity for the community to influence a project or decision, or when engagement is required by legislation.
Sometimes we're asking for ideas at the beginning of a project. Other times we're seeking feedback on a draft proposal or informing the community about a decision that has already been made.
If there is no opportunity to influence an outcome, we will still communicate and inform this to the community.
Our commitment to you
Our community engagement is guided by the principles of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and the City's Stakeholder Engagement Policy. These principles help ensure our engagement is meaningful, transparent and appropriate for each project.
When you participate, we commit to:
- Providing clear and accessible information.
- Explaining how your feedback will be used.
- Listening respectfully to different views.
- Sharing engagement outcomes where appropriate.
- Keeping you informed throughout the project.
Understanding levels of engagement
| Inform | Consult | Involve | Collaborate | Empower | |
| Public participation goal | To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problems, alternatives, opportunities and/ or solution. | To obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives and/ or decisions. | To work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered. | To partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution. | To place final decision making in the hands of the public. |
| Obligation to the public | We will keep you informed. | We will keep you informed, listen to and acknowledge concerns and aspirations, and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision. We will seek your feedback on drafts and proposals. | We will work with you to ensure that your concerns and aspirations are directly reflected in the alternatives developed and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision. | We will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible. | We will implement what you decide. |
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Frequently asked questions
There are many drivers for community engagement and a number of factors which influence the way we engage with the community. Community engagement will be carried out when:
- Something the City is intending to do has an impact on the community.
- It is required by legislation such as the creation of a local law or planning scheme.
There are many ways we inform the community of the opportunity to get involved in an engagement including:
- Melville Talks webpage
- Social media via the City's Facebook and Instagram pages,
- Direct email invitations sent to a random sample to City of Melville residents, ratepayers, library and LeisureFit members,
- Letters
- Posters on public noticeboards,
- Advertorials in Melville Gazette,
- Information in the Melville Talks eNews and other City of Melville eNews channels,
- Signage if an engagement is about a specific location, and
- Media releases.
While there are many occasions where community influence can be applied, for the most part the democratically elected Council is responsible for making decisions on behalf of the whole community, for the ‘good of the district'. This is particularly so in the case of long-term planning for the future, where Council need to take into account factors such as population growth and the needs of future generations, demographic trends, new technologies, changing social expectations and the impact of climate change.
If you want to consult with the community and have certainty about the results, you must have two things:
- A sample frame or list from which you draw the sample
- A sample size which is representative of the population you want to survey
Until recent times, market researchers could use the phone book as their sample frame, randomly selecting potential participants from the listings and would for example call every 10th person in the phone book until they reached the correct sample size for the required demographics.
Our sample frame
At the City of Melville, our sample frame is our customer service database which contains over 25,000 email addresses collected from people using one of our 200 produces and services. It includes ratepayers, registered dog/cat owners, Library and LeisureFit members, people who have a pool inspected or report graffiti to name a few.
Demographic data
When conducting an engagement we ensure demographic data is collected from participants. We can then determine the extent to which a sample is demographically representative by comparing who responded against the Australian Bureau of Statistics profile for the same area.
We encourage the community to update their contact details with the City, including email to ensure they are part of the sample frame we use for engagements.
