Room to improve: public call Newcastle council's approach 'tokenistic' and 'superficial'
IT'S said communication is the key to a successful relationship, but with Novocastrians describing City of Newcastle's engagement as "tokenistic" and "superficial" with a "decide and defend" approach, it seems there's room for improvement.
Transparency, communication and community trust were three of four key themes that emerged in public submissions to the highly anticipated independent probe into the council's policies, processes and procedures.
The review was a key pillar of Independent lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election campaign, which promised a "thorough, forensic investigation into the Scott Neylon/Jeremy Bath/Jason Sivo letters saga".
That issue has been a thorn in the side of the council and community since the Newcastle Herald launched its investigation into the letter to the editor writing campaign over a year ago.
Extensive submissions were made about the letters to the editor palaver, which the firm responsible for the review, Davidson Business Advisory, looked into in great detail.
It found investigations within City of Newcastle, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office of Local Government (OLG) were undertaken by the appropriate authorities.
Davidson noted ICAC and the OLG have both closed the matters, have "no further investigations under way" and do not consider them necessary.
The firm's lead consultant Colin Jensen said the issue has caused "significant angst" to council, the community and council staff and encouraged City of Newcastle to "look at ways to draw a line in the sand on this and move forward for the benefit of the city".
The 2023 council-commissioned independent investigation into the City of Newcastle CEO's links to a Herald letter writer found "no evidence that the CEO incentivised the author to write the articles".
The Herald was not contacted during the council-commissioned investigation, nor were copies of the letters requested.
The public overwhelmingly told reviewers they wanted greater transparency, clearer and more accessible reporting on council decisions, how ratepayers' money is spent and how the council measures its performance.
The community called for more consistent and accessible communication, particularly around capital works, major projects, and changes as they happened.
Mr Jensen said better communication would be "essential" to strengthen engagement and build trust in the council's activities.
"Residents felt that clearer communication and more opportunities for dialogue are needed to strengthen trust," he said.
"Good communication and ongoing communication is critical to building their trust, it ensures the community's needs are fully considered in your council decisions."
More than 270 public submissions homed in on governance, highlighting issues around transparency, decision-making, meeting procedures, clarity in council meetings, and ensuring they are not only legally compliant but conducted in an orderly manner.
Davidson found the council did not act outside the law in its council meetings, but that meetings could be better structured, particularly around adherence to speaking times and declaring whether councillors are speaking for or against an issue.
Other areas for improvement included proactively releasing information to the public, communicating the outcomes of investigations and compliance and regulatory enforcement and managing conflicts of interest within the council.
While the reviewers did not identify illegal activity or a lack of compliance when it comes to conflicts of interest, they found improvements could be made in how members of the public perceive the handling of those conflicts.
Mr Jensen said there was evidence the council has a "good" community engagement policy, but feedback from submissions was that the way the council engages with the public feels "tokenistic and superficial, with an approach which is described as 'decide and defend'".
"Community members seek clearer insights into the decision-making processes, council plans and long-term strategies," he said.
"Concerns were also raised about poor access to councillors to raise issues or discuss the decisions already made by elected officials.
"This is not an easy thing, but it is actually crucial to your success and the success of the council, as well as the city."
More than 800 public submissions were made to the review, 548 of which were made by individuals.
A number of people made multiple submissions on different issues.
IT'S said communication is the key to a successful relationship, but with Novocastrians describing City of Newcastle's engagement as "tokenistic" and "superficial" with a "decide and defend" approach, it seems there's room for improvement.
Transparency, communication and community trust were three of four key themes that emerged in public submissions to the highly anticipated independent probe into the council's policies, processes and procedures.
The review was a key pillar of Independent lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election campaign, which promised a "thorough, forensic investigation into the Scott Neylon/Jeremy Bath/Jason Sivo letters saga".
That issue has been a thorn in the side of the council and community since the Newcastle Herald launched its investigation into the letter to the editor writing campaign over a year ago.
Extensive submissions were made about the letters to the editor palaver, which the firm responsible for the review, Davidson Business Advisory, looked into in great detail.
It found investigations within City of Newcastle, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office of Local Government (OLG) were undertaken by the appropriate authorities.
Davidson noted ICAC and the OLG have both closed the matters, have "no further investigations under way" and do not consider them necessary.
The firm's lead consultant Colin Jensen said the issue has caused "significant angst" to council, the community and council staff and encouraged City of Newcastle to "look at ways to draw a line in the sand on this and move forward for the benefit of the city".
The 2023 council-commissioned independent investigation into the City of Newcastle CEO's links to a Herald letter writer found "no evidence that the CEO incentivised the author to write the articles".
The Herald was not contacted during the council-commissioned investigation, nor were copies of the letters requested.
The public overwhelmingly told reviewers they wanted greater transparency, clearer and more accessible reporting on council decisions, how ratepayers' money is spent and how the council measures its performance.
The community called for more consistent and accessible communication, particularly around capital works, major projects, and changes as they happened.
Mr Jensen said better communication would be "essential" to strengthen engagement and build trust in the council's activities.
"Residents felt that clearer communication and more opportunities for dialogue are needed to strengthen trust," he said.
"Good communication and ongoing communication is critical to building their trust, it ensures the community's needs are fully considered in your council decisions."
More than 270 public submissions homed in on governance, highlighting issues around transparency, decision-making, meeting procedures, clarity in council meetings, and ensuring they are not only legally compliant but conducted in an orderly manner.
Davidson found the council did not act outside the law in its council meetings, but that meetings could be better structured, particularly around adherence to speaking times and declaring whether councillors are speaking for or against an issue.
Other areas for improvement included proactively releasing information to the public, communicating the outcomes of investigations and compliance and regulatory enforcement and managing conflicts of interest within the council.
While the reviewers did not identify illegal activity or a lack of compliance when it comes to conflicts of interest, they found improvements could be made in how members of the public perceive the handling of those conflicts.
Mr Jensen said there was evidence the council has a "good" community engagement policy, but feedback from submissions was that the way the council engages with the public feels "tokenistic and superficial, with an approach which is described as 'decide and defend'".
"Community members seek clearer insights into the decision-making processes, council plans and long-term strategies," he said.
"Concerns were also raised about poor access to councillors to raise issues or discuss the decisions already made by elected officials.
"This is not an easy thing, but it is actually crucial to your success and the success of the council, as well as the city."
More than 800 public submissions were made to the review, 548 of which were made by individuals.
A number of people made multiple submissions on different issues.
IT'S said communication is the key to a successful relationship, but with Novocastrians describing City of Newcastle's engagement as "tokenistic" and "superficial" with a "decide and defend" approach, it seems there's room for improvement.
Transparency, communication and community trust were three of four key themes that emerged in public submissions to the highly anticipated independent probe into the council's policies, processes and procedures.
The review was a key pillar of Independent lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election campaign, which promised a "thorough, forensic investigation into the Scott Neylon/Jeremy Bath/Jason Sivo letters saga".
That issue has been a thorn in the side of the council and community since the Newcastle Herald launched its investigation into the letter to the editor writing campaign over a year ago.
Extensive submissions were made about the letters to the editor palaver, which the firm responsible for the review, Davidson Business Advisory, looked into in great detail.
It found investigations within City of Newcastle, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office of Local Government (OLG) were undertaken by the appropriate authorities.
Davidson noted ICAC and the OLG have both closed the matters, have "no further investigations under way" and do not consider them necessary.
The firm's lead consultant Colin Jensen said the issue has caused "significant angst" to council, the community and council staff and encouraged City of Newcastle to "look at ways to draw a line in the sand on this and move forward for the benefit of the city".
The 2023 council-commissioned independent investigation into the City of Newcastle CEO's links to a Herald letter writer found "no evidence that the CEO incentivised the author to write the articles".
The Herald was not contacted during the council-commissioned investigation, nor were copies of the letters requested.
The public overwhelmingly told reviewers they wanted greater transparency, clearer and more accessible reporting on council decisions, how ratepayers' money is spent and how the council measures its performance.
The community called for more consistent and accessible communication, particularly around capital works, major projects, and changes as they happened.
Mr Jensen said better communication would be "essential" to strengthen engagement and build trust in the council's activities.
"Residents felt that clearer communication and more opportunities for dialogue are needed to strengthen trust," he said.
"Good communication and ongoing communication is critical to building their trust, it ensures the community's needs are fully considered in your council decisions."
More than 270 public submissions homed in on governance, highlighting issues around transparency, decision-making, meeting procedures, clarity in council meetings, and ensuring they are not only legally compliant but conducted in an orderly manner.
Davidson found the council did not act outside the law in its council meetings, but that meetings could be better structured, particularly around adherence to speaking times and declaring whether councillors are speaking for or against an issue.
Other areas for improvement included proactively releasing information to the public, communicating the outcomes of investigations and compliance and regulatory enforcement and managing conflicts of interest within the council.
While the reviewers did not identify illegal activity or a lack of compliance when it comes to conflicts of interest, they found improvements could be made in how members of the public perceive the handling of those conflicts.
Mr Jensen said there was evidence the council has a "good" community engagement policy, but feedback from submissions was that the way the council engages with the public feels "tokenistic and superficial, with an approach which is described as 'decide and defend'".
"Community members seek clearer insights into the decision-making processes, council plans and long-term strategies," he said.
"Concerns were also raised about poor access to councillors to raise issues or discuss the decisions already made by elected officials.
"This is not an easy thing, but it is actually crucial to your success and the success of the council, as well as the city."
More than 800 public submissions were made to the review, 548 of which were made by individuals.
A number of people made multiple submissions on different issues.
IT'S said communication is the key to a successful relationship, but with Novocastrians describing City of Newcastle's engagement as "tokenistic" and "superficial" with a "decide and defend" approach, it seems there's room for improvement.
Transparency, communication and community trust were three of four key themes that emerged in public submissions to the highly anticipated independent probe into the council's policies, processes and procedures.
The review was a key pillar of Independent lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election campaign, which promised a "thorough, forensic investigation into the Scott Neylon/Jeremy Bath/Jason Sivo letters saga".
That issue has been a thorn in the side of the council and community since the Newcastle Herald launched its investigation into the letter to the editor writing campaign over a year ago.
Extensive submissions were made about the letters to the editor palaver, which the firm responsible for the review, Davidson Business Advisory, looked into in great detail.
It found investigations within City of Newcastle, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office of Local Government (OLG) were undertaken by the appropriate authorities.
Davidson noted ICAC and the OLG have both closed the matters, have "no further investigations under way" and do not consider them necessary.
The firm's lead consultant Colin Jensen said the issue has caused "significant angst" to council, the community and council staff and encouraged City of Newcastle to "look at ways to draw a line in the sand on this and move forward for the benefit of the city".
The 2023 council-commissioned independent investigation into the City of Newcastle CEO's links to a Herald letter writer found "no evidence that the CEO incentivised the author to write the articles".
The Herald was not contacted during the council-commissioned investigation, nor were copies of the letters requested.
The public overwhelmingly told reviewers they wanted greater transparency, clearer and more accessible reporting on council decisions, how ratepayers' money is spent and how the council measures its performance.
The community called for more consistent and accessible communication, particularly around capital works, major projects, and changes as they happened.
Mr Jensen said better communication would be "essential" to strengthen engagement and build trust in the council's activities.
"Residents felt that clearer communication and more opportunities for dialogue are needed to strengthen trust," he said.
"Good communication and ongoing communication is critical to building their trust, it ensures the community's needs are fully considered in your council decisions."
More than 270 public submissions homed in on governance, highlighting issues around transparency, decision-making, meeting procedures, clarity in council meetings, and ensuring they are not only legally compliant but conducted in an orderly manner.
Davidson found the council did not act outside the law in its council meetings, but that meetings could be better structured, particularly around adherence to speaking times and declaring whether councillors are speaking for or against an issue.
Other areas for improvement included proactively releasing information to the public, communicating the outcomes of investigations and compliance and regulatory enforcement and managing conflicts of interest within the council.
While the reviewers did not identify illegal activity or a lack of compliance when it comes to conflicts of interest, they found improvements could be made in how members of the public perceive the handling of those conflicts.
Mr Jensen said there was evidence the council has a "good" community engagement policy, but feedback from submissions was that the way the council engages with the public feels "tokenistic and superficial, with an approach which is described as 'decide and defend'".
"Community members seek clearer insights into the decision-making processes, council plans and long-term strategies," he said.
"Concerns were also raised about poor access to councillors to raise issues or discuss the decisions already made by elected officials.
"This is not an easy thing, but it is actually crucial to your success and the success of the council, as well as the city."
More than 800 public submissions were made to the review, 548 of which were made by individuals.
A number of people made multiple submissions on different issues.
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