Be clear about the purpose and scope
Explain why we are engaging, what decisions are being made, what can and cannot be influenced, and when key milestones and decisions are expected.
Stay up to date
Be the first to know about new projects, planning, and decisions that interest you and make sure your voice is heard.
Our community engagement process
Clarence is an engaged community who are passionate about shaping the future of their city. At City of Clarence, we regularly engage our community to better understand local needs, hear new ideas and strengthen our relationships with the people who live, work and spend time here. City of Clarence is committed to open and transparent engagement that informs and educates our community, and creates real opportunities for you to be involved and heard. This helps us develop fit-for-purpose plans, projects and strategies, and supports us to make informed decisions, continually improve local services, places and environments, and respond to the diverse needs of our community.
Why we engage
We engage with our community because it leads to better outcomes for everyone in Clarence. Hearing your ideas, experiences and concerns helps us understand different needs and local impacts, improve how we design and deliver services, places and projects, and build trust through open, transparent conversations.
When we engage
We want to hear your input on how we can create a Clarence that reflects the values and needs of our community.
We open community engagements when:
- a decision may significantly impact people, spaces, or services
- engagement is required by law or policy
- there is strong community interest or concern
- we are developing long-term plans or strategies.
How you can engage
When we start planning a project or strategy, that is usually when the community has the most influence. Sometimes we still need to get technical or specialist advice first, so that everyone has clear and accurate information to respond to.
The bigger the impact on the community, the more interactive we try to make the engagement. For smaller changes, we might focus on sharing information and asking for targeted feedback. For larger projects, we may engage over several stages as ideas are tested, refined and moved towards a final decision.
There's a range of different ways we engage with the community:
How engagement fits into decision making
When we make decisions, we bring together different types of information, including:
- community engagement collected from surveys, workshops, pop ups and conversations
- laws, regulations, acts, and policies we must follow
- safety requirements and technical advice
- environmental and heritage considerations
- equity and the impacts on different groups in our community
- available budget, resourcing and timing.
Community engagement is not a vote or a poll, and it does not mean we will do exactly what any one person or group prefers. City of Clarence needs to balance different views and responsibilities, so not every suggestion can be taken up, even when it is thoughtful or popular. Decisions are made to have the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people in our community, as well as future generations. We commit to always listening carefully, weighing up what we hear alongside other factors, and explaining how engagement has informed the final decision.
How we use your feedback
When the community shares feedback with us, it becomes part of the information we use to make decisions.
For each engagement, we:
- collect all responses, including survey results, submissions, workshop notes and conversations
- analyse the feedback to look for themes, common ideas and outliers
- consider how different options might affect different groups in our community
- weigh up what we have heard alongside laws, acts, policies, and regulations, safety and technical advice, environmental and heritage protections, available budget, resourcing, timing, and any other considerations relevant to the project.
- present findings to the Councillors, who are the ultimate decision makers.
When your preferred option isn't adopted
There will be times when the outcome is different from what your individual preference might have been. Decisions are made in the best interests of the whole community, and for every opinion there is most likely someone with an opposite opinion. Even when your preferred option is not adopted, your feedback still matters. It helps us understand local impacts, improve how projects are designed and delivered, and plan for future changes and opportunities.
How you can get involved
There are several ways you can take part in engagement activities with our city.
- Explore current projects
Visit Your Say Clarence to see what is open for feedback and how you can be involved. - Register for updates
Create an account or sign up for email updates so you hear about new projects, surveys and events. - Join activities and forums
Come along to pop ups, workshops, information sessions or community reference groups when they are offered on topics that interest you. - Stay connected online
Follow our official channels for quick polls, news and reminders about opportunities to have your say.
What you can expect from us
When we engage with you, we want the process to be genuine, accessible and worth your time. You can expect us to:
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Use plain language
Provide information in clear, everyday language, with maps, images and summaries so you can quickly understand what is being proposed and how it may affect you.
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Offer different ways to take part
Where we can, provide a mix of online and in-person options such as Your Say surveys, pop ups, workshops, phone or email feedback, and paper forms.
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Make engagement accessible and inclusive
Consider the needs of children and young people, older people, people with disability, First Nations people and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This may include accessible venues, translation or interpreter support, Easy English or large print materials, and child-friendly or after-hours sessions where practical.
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Actively seek a range of voices
Reach beyond the ‘usual voices’ and invite input from people who may be less likely to participate, or more affected by the decision, so we can better understand different experiences across our community.
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Report back what we heard and what happens next
Share a summary in an Engagement Report, so you can see how community input has been considered alongside other factors and how it has informed the final outcome or next steps.
