Council review puts plans for new neighbourhood forum on hold

Efforts to establish a community-based neighbourhood forum in the Unanderra area to represent the views of locals have hit a snag.

It’s been more than a decade since Neighbourhood Forum 6 (NF6) folded. When it was active, it represented the views of people living in Wollongong’s southern suburbs of Unanderra, Farmborough Heights, Cordeaux Heights, Mt Kembla and Kembla Heights.

Believing it was important that all areas of the city were represented through a dedicated forum, former independent Wollongong councillor Vicki Curran tried to resurrect NF6 earlier this year. Her efforts to date have been in vain.

A Wollongong City Council staff member told Vicki there would be no decisions made on neighbourhood forums until there had been a review of the charter for all of the forums. No time frame was given for when that review would take place.

Providing a vital link

“It’s frustrating,” Vicki Curran said. “There are local issues here that residents want to see addressed but we have no formal way of progressing them.”

Forums provide a vital link to community, meeting regularly and canvassing issues of concern in local neighbourhoods.

Wollongong Council established eight neighbourhood forums soon after Council came out of administration 15 years ago. They were created to provide a direct link between the community and Council to provide a platform to discuss local issues, advise Council on community needs, and offer feedback on projects, policies and local developments.

As reported by The Illawarra Flame last week, it isn’t always plain sailing, and the relationship between Council and the NFs can be tested from time to time.

Vicki Curran believes for the forums to be most effective there needs to be a positive, trusting relationship built between Council and the volunteer-operated resident groups.

“There are things we’d like to do to improve our community and work together with Council to help plant some trees, improve street lighting and so on.

“When the community contributes, it feels empowered and legitimised, and not just relying on Council.”

Feeling 'powerless'

Vicki said the community was becoming increasingly concerned with the state government taking a greater role in the planning process, leaving Council “sidelined”.

“It means we are being cut out of local decision making, which ultimately we are going to have to pay for. We won’t have a proper say in it and we will have the impacts of increased stormwater and traffic to deal with.

“We will be paying our rates but then feel powerless.”

Vicki gave the example of increased traffic congestion to the south of Wollongong.

“It‘s already congested and only going to get worse. In the peak it takes me half an hour from Cordeaux to Mangerton to pick up my grandson. In the off-peak the same trip takes about five minutes.”

NF Charter needs updating

A spokesperson for Wollongong City Council said: “While the (Neighbourhood) Forums are independent of Council, they operate under a Charter that’s endorsed by Council. The current Charter is more than a decade old, adopted by Council in 2014 and is due for review.”

Council confirmed there are five active Neighbourhood Forums in the city and three inactive forums.

“The active voluntary groups are in Helensburgh, Corrimal, Wollongong, Berkeley and Dapto. The inactive forums are in Coledale, Thirroul and Unanderra.

"Each of the forums represent both the suburbs in which they are based, and surrounding suburbs.”

Council confirmed it had been approached with a view to reestablishing the Unanderra-based forum, NF6.

“With the Charter review planned, we are pausing any changes or additions to the forums until this process has been completed,” Council’s spokesperson said.

“It’s always priority for us that we hear from as many diverse voices as possible when seeking feedback on plans, strategies, projects and other activities that have a direct impact on how residents live, work and play across the city.

“It’s anticipated the review of the Neighbourhood Forum Charter will be completed in the coming months and we’ll involve Neighbourhood Forums in the process. While this is underway, we are reviewing and updating our engagement website. These projects are part of a broader body of work to ensure our community engagement channels are providing wide-ranging opportunities to hear from the diversity of voices within our community.”

The spokesperson encouraged community members to register their interest to stay informed about local matters at the Let's Talk Wollongong website.

The role of Neighbourhood Forums

The Neighbourhood Forum Charter, about to be reviewed, says the role of a forum is to engage with its local community, providing:

• Advice and peer support to community members on local issues;
• Advice to Council on community aspirations, visions, needs and concerns;
• Feedback on Council plans, projects, and policies;
• Increased opportunities for Council and the community to create a trusted relationship;
• Work in partnership on special projects;
• Engage with Council and the community in setting priorities for the Forum area; and
• Establish their own rules of meeting, consistent with the requirements of the Charter.

For its part, under the existing arrangements, Council provides the forums with rooms for meetings, guest speakers, information on current Council activities, reimbursement of expenses up to $250 per annum per forum, quarterly meetings with Council’s engagement team, and regular promotion of the meetings of each forum.