Integrated Planning and Reporting Manual - Division of Local ...

2. THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN
When analysing the information it is important to consider not only broad issues and implications,
but also the representation of particular groups who may have special needs or issues. These
groups were formerly referred to as ‘target groups’ in the social planning process and include:
children
young people
people with disabilities
older people
women
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
people from diverse sexualities
For example, Aboriginal people or people with disabilities may have different housing needs to
those of the general community. Giving particular consideration to these groups will help to ensure
that all members of the community receive a fair go in planning future services or facilities and that
Council meets the requirement to ensure the Plan is founded on social justice principles.
Also consider how community services are interlinked with economic, environmental and urban
design issues. This is particularly relevant, for example, if affordable housing is emerging as a key
social issue for your area.
What sort of information
In preparing its discussion papers or presentations on key issues, Council should consider both
quantitative and qualitative information. For example, there may be crime statistics available for the
local area, but there are also people’s perceptions of community safety. Often the two won’t
completely align.
Community feedback might suggest that people feel unsafe when walking local streets at night,
even though crime statistics for the area show there is a very low personal risk involved. The
perception may originate from poor street lighting, seeing groups of drunk or disorderly people in the
main street, neighbourhood hear-say, or reports on television or in the local newspaper.
Regardless of where the perception came from, it is very real to the people who hold that belief and
affects the way that they participate in the community.
There will also be some aspects that hold particular or special values for your community which
elevate their significance in the planning process. This might be a particular heritage building, a
natural feature or a memorial park. In these cases, the way people feel about the feature, or the
personal value they place on it, may be more relevant to long-term decision making than the facts
and figures that relate to it.
Presenting the information
The effectiveness of the Community Strategic Planning process relies on the way that information
on issues, impacts and possible solutions is presented to the community. The community
engagement process will serve as a testing point for the issues Council has identified – Are these
the matters of key concern to the community Are there other issues that should be highlighted As
the community works through the issues, long-term goals will become clearer and strategies for
achieving those goals can start to take form.
Planning & Reporting Manual Page 35 of 115