Consultation

Six Steps

1. Plan to consult and choose the consultation methodologies and times.

Prior to commencing consultation, the decision needs to be made as to the extent of the
consultation, quantitative and / or qualitative methodologies and the process of the
consultation.

Key questions include:

• Is this an appropriate consultation issue or is the decision more properly

governed by Council Policy and/or current delegations?

• Is the consultation commensurate with the community impact or strategic

importance?

• At what point(s) in the process should consultation occur? When will information
from the consultation be most valuable to enhance the decision making process?

• What consultation methods are most suitable to assist in the decision making? Is
the decision concerning overall community support or should the consultation be
targeted at specific stakeholder group?

• What is the best communication strategy to involve stakeholder groups?

2. Those affected are informed with

• sufficient information,
• sufficient time
• and sufficient opportunity to make an input.

The process should seek to reach not only those with strong views who may take the
initiative but all affected stakeholders who may only participate through ‘customer
friendly’ mechanisms such as a questionnaire which is easy to complete and return.
The consultation techniques employed should be chosen according to the subject
and the stakeholders to be reached.

The time frame for consultation needs to be chosen carefully. School holidays,
religious festivals etc may not allow stakeholders the information or opportunity to
participate. Sometimes, however, the consultation phase is triggered by another
party eg town planning applications which must be advertised and decided
regardless of the time of year.

3. Encouragement of Stakeholders

Provided that they are given information, opportunity and time, Council will
encourage stakeholders to take part in the consultation process.
4. All view points should be considered.

For example, strong views expressed at a public meeting should be considered

alongside other views from people who did not attend the meeting and the interests
of the community as a whole, including costs to be shared by all ratepayers.

5. The decision-making process should be transparent.

That includes disclosing the viewpoints which have been expressed (subject to the
requirements of the Information Privacy Act) and articulating factors to be considered
in Council Submissions which form the basis for decisions. Decisions will usually be
made at Statutory Council Meetings open to the public and where the decisions are
recorded in the Minutes.

6. Those who participated in the consultative process should, wherever possible,

be informed of the outcome.

Council should endeavour to inform those who participated of the outcome of the
process. In the case of submissions received, Council should have a name and
address to which to respond. In cases where Council does not have a record of
names and addresses, a general statement through the media may be the most
appropriate method.

The feedback should include the decision, the process followed and the reasons for
the decision.