FAQs

We asked each of them to detail how they would conduct the consultation and to ensure their consultation approach:

• Engaged the whole city (all ratepayers contribute, so all ratepayers are entitled to have their say)
• Gave those most affected by consultation outcomes a say in the consultation questions and approach (ratepayer associations, and CTS reps etc)
• Identified all stakeholders who benefit from canal and lake maintenance (and how they benefit)
• Explored all management options
• Explored all funding options
• Engaged the community at the ‘involve’ level on the IAP2 spectrum
• Used a Citizen’s Advisory Board (a randomly selected, representative sample of our city’s population)
• Delivered a report detailing the Citizen Advisory Board’s deliberations
• Tested outcomes of Citizen Advisory Board’s deliberations with representatives of the broader city (through market research)
• Delivered a report to Council by the start of March 2018
• Was transparent, leveraged best practice and would stand up to scrutiny

The cost of the citywide community engagement is around $300,000 including internal Council staffing and resource costs as well as the two consultancy companies. 

This is a fraction of the annual cost of maintenance of the canals and lake and is considered an investment given the importance of getting this right for the future. 

To put this in context, the cost is less than community engagement costs for other initiatives such as the City Plan and Redlands 2030 Community Plan.