Public Consultation Toolkit - Civil Service College

Public Consultation Toolkit 21 22 Public Consultation Toolkit
Case 6:
Master plan for Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Agency/country:
5.3. Step 3: Anticipate obstacles and challenges
Before launching the public consultation exercise, public officers need to think through the
potential challenges and pitfalls that may arise during and after the exercise. Mitigating
strategies and contingency plans need to be developed to handle these situations.
The following are some commonly faced challenges and examples of mitigating strategies:
1. Voluminous and diverse views
Policies/initiatives which affect the society at large (e.g., primary education curriculum policies)
or are controversial in nature (e.g., amendment to the Penal Code) tend to attract voluminous
feedback which may be differing and diverse, and therefore, sometimes hard to manage.
Officers should adopt a systematic approach to identify and deal with the most pressing and
most common concerns among the stakeholders. Table 5-3 suggests a simple way for officers to
categorise the feedback received.
• National Parks Board (NParks), Singapore
Background:
• The objective of the consultation exercise was to seek feedback on the masterplan for the
development of the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.
• With lessons learnt from Chek Jawa, which attracted voluminous public feedback, NParks
decided to engage interest groups early in the consultation process.
Consultation Process:
• NParks involved the key stakeholders and interest groups at the early stages of the
development plan.
• Working groups were formed and meetings were held quarterly to discuss issues and
concerns.
• Stakeholders had open discussions with NParks and their input were directly included in the
master plan for development.
Demands by stakeholders
directly affected
Prioritisation of feedback
1.
2.
3.
Common areas of concern 1.
2.
3.
Minority requirements 1.
2.
3.
Table 5-3: Categorising feedback received
If voluminous feedback is expected on an issue, one possible
mitigating strategy is to start with targeted engagement of key
stakeholders before consulting the wider populace. This will
allow agencies to identify key area of concerns and controversy
and develop strategies or responses before a large-scale
consultation is launched.
Tips for effectiveness
For a situation where the
feedback is voluminous,
agencies can group
feedback into broader
categories based on
common areas of concern.
This allows the agencies
to have a comprehensive
assessment of the situation
without being bogged
down by the volume.
This also helps the
agencies to close the loop
effectively (Step 8) as it
will ensure that all key
areas of concern had been
considered.
Outcomes:
• Since the working group played a part in the planning process, they could assist NParks to
address the concerns of the public during the wider consultation.
• The public showed greater acceptance towards the government’s initiative when the nongovernmental
groups showed buy-in towards the policy as well.
Learning points:
• For issues which could attract voluminous feedback, involving targeted stakeholders early
helps to facilitate the consultation process with the wider populace.