We engage with our community because it leads to better results for everyone.

Engagement provides a place for information sharing between the City of Belmont, members of the community, and important stakeholders.

Good engagement is built on good communication and makes sure that we listen and think about the needs of our customers, stakeholders, and our diverse communities.

Why we engage?

On 26 September 2023, Council endorsed our Engagement Strategy 2023 & Beyond, which outlines our commitment to community engagement, communication and customer interactions.

Our actions under the Strategy are grouped into five key themes.

Theme 1: Be real

Principles:

• We will respect you when we engage with you.
• We will be fully present and open in our communications.

Initiatives:

Theme 2: Accessible and inclusive

Principles:

• We will support an understanding of diverse groups in the City.
• We will make things easy to understand and make sure there are many ways to connect.

Initiatives:

Theme 3: Build relationships

Principles:

• We will work to build constant connection through respect and understanding.

Initiatives:

Theme 4: Listen and remember

Principles:

• We will support you to share your ideas, concerns and stories to create change that helps the community.
• We hear you, and your input is important.

Initiatives:

Theme 5: Quality and innovation

Principles:

• We will try to be creative, open, and welcoming by communicating with people wherever they are - both in person and online.
• We will keep learning from our actions and the feedback we are given.

Initiatives:

According to our staff and community

We asked our staff and community how we can be successful, and the results were very similar.

Here are some of the shared ideas:

• A community that is proud and supportive of their local government, made through a relationship based on openness and trust.
• A connected and lively community that welcomes all abilities, cultures and diversity.
• Services that are engaging and respond to the needs of the community.
• Improvements in the local area based on community needs and aspirations.
• Lots of chances for the community to get involved, with clear and open communication about the results and choices that have been made. An engaged community that shared honest ideas and feedback to make a safe, lively, and diverse community.
• A valued, skilled and confident workforce that provide very good customer service and engage well with community and stakeholders.

We’re working through the implementation of the initiatives outlined in the Strategy. We’ll report on our progress each year and let you know the highlights.

At the September 2023 Ordinary Council Meeting the Engagement Strategy 2023 & beyond was endorsed by the City of Belmont Council, setting a plan for how we listen to and communicate with our community, customers and stakeholders.

The draft Strategy was developed with the help of community members and local businesses who contributed ideas through a written sticky note at one of our events, online gather boards or survey, or in person at a meeting or workshop between February and May 2023.

In May and June 2023 the Engagement Strategy was drafted and includes five key themes and principles and over 20 initiatives to support our community, customer and stakeholder engagement.

In July 2023 we took the draft strategy to Council for review and in August 2023 we sought feedback on the draft Engagement Strategy 2023 & beyond from our community. Feedback on the draft was open between 4 August and 25 August 2023.

The strategy was approved at the Ordinary Council Meeting on 26 September 2023. The strategy can be downloaded from the document library on this page.

About the Ideation Phase

February 2023 to May 2023

At the early stages of this project we wanted to know what good engagement looks like and feels like for the people we interact with.

People could contribute through one of the boards below. Each fortnight we selected a winning submission that has inspired us.

If you had more to say on the subject of engagement you could also fill in our survey.

We collected 656 ideas on what good engagement looked and felt like, also what some of the barriers are to good engagement. The ideas were grouped into our five strategic themes:

• Be real
• Accessible and inclusive
• Build relationships
• Listen and remember
• Quality and innovation

The ideas were presented to staff working groups and two community design workshops who developed principles and helped prioritise key initiatives under the strategy.

The themes, principles and initiatives are outlined in the Strategy.

Below are the survey questions and consultation boards for reference. The consultation is now closed.

About the Design Phase

April to May 2023

We put a callout to the community to take part in a design workshop to help develop the Strategy. The workshops took place in May 2023.

Draft Strategy Feedback Form

August 2023

The community could provide feedback on the draft Strategy.