History of FuturesPlan20
Early development
FuturesPlan20 was developed during 2008 through significant consultation with community members, partners, stakeholders, Council staff and Councillors. A series of forums was held, designed to canvas opinion on issues facing the City of Canada Bay now, as well as to stimulate thought about hopes and concerns over the next 20 years.
To supplement the forums, a community survey was distributed across the City to every household and made available on Council’s website. Further consultation was facilitated through:
- Direct mail to businesses, schools and existing Council databases
- Consultation kiosks placed at various locations around the City over two weekends
- Displays at Council’s Customer Service Centres, Libraries and other community facilities
- Council events.
Information about consultation opportunities was widely promoted by Council and well supported in local media. The final stage in developing FuturesPlan20 involved the public exhibition of the draft for eight weeks between August and October 2008. During this time, every household in Canada Bay received the summary document and were asked to provide feedback on the vision and draft directions.
A network forum was held with industry stakeholders and technical experts to ensure the alignment of the proposed broad directions of FuturesPlan20 with that of other organisations in our local area. This also provided an opportunity to identify partnership opportunities which will assist to achieve the broad directions.
Input from Council’s specialist staff was also important in developing FuturesPlan20, particularly in considering projections and current trends as well as providing expert advice on constraints or challenges we may experience into the future. Council staff provided feedback on FuturesPlan20 at various stages of its drafting, mirroring the process of consultation undertaken with community members.
Other technical input was been sought through targeted consultation with industry, partner and business networks including professional associations, government and non-government agencies, service clubs, adjoining councils, regional councils and representatives of local community organisations.
After nearly 12 months of development, FuturesPlan20 was formally adopted by Council in December 2008.
Review in 2010
In late 2009, the NSW Government' introduced legislative reform which required Council to review FuturesPlan20 to confirm that it is compliant with legislative requirements, and that it is still reflective of the vision which our residents and stakeholders have for the City. Our review included:
- The input of the newly formed FuturesPlan20 Community Panel, whose membership was asked to provide feedback on outcomes and directions provided for each of the seven themes of the document, and to confirm that they were still valid
- A review of relevant NSW Government strategic documents including the recently revised NSW State Plan (as originally released in 2009)
- A series of community information sessions
- Targeted consultation with a range of community organisations/sectors
- The input of Council’s professional staff
- The formal requirements of the new legislation.
The FuturesPlan20 Community Panel was established in February 2010 and over 150 individuals joined and participated in consultation on the document and its vision. As part of the consultation undertaken, panel members provided Council with over 200 individual survey responses containing more than 760 unique comments on FuturesPlan20 and associated sub-plans and documents (2010-13 Delivery Plan, a new operating plan and resourcing strategy documents).
Panel members also participated in a special workshop (delivered by the St James Ethics Centre on behalf of Council) to explored issues around the gap between Council's current revenue and the significant amount needed to fund the maintenance of the City's community infrastructure.
Based on the review and consultation undertaken, a revised FuturesPlan20 was developed. Changes made to the original Plan included:
- Incorporation of details of the integrated planning and reporting framework in which Council now operates
- Incorporation of the City of Canada Bay’s vision statement and mission, and the explicit identification of the principles which underpinned the original development of FP20
- Development and incorporation of an assessment hierarchy to suit the three tiers of the integrated planning framework (FP20, Delivery Plan and Operating Plan)
- Addition of details of the consultation which has informed this review
- Correction of a number of minor typographical and/or formatting misnomers.
No substantive changes were deemed necessary to the themes, outcomes and directions of FuturesPlan20.
The new (and current version) of FuturesPlan20 was formally adopted by Council in May 2010. It will be reviewed in 2013.
