FAQ

Orange City Council wants to find out about the Orange community’s main priorities and hopes for the future.

Drafting those priorities into a printed plan lets the council keep its work on-track with what the community expects to happen.

In NSW, in the months surrounding a new council election, each council arranges a structured conversation with members of its local community. Based on that conversation, a new blue-print for the future is put together.

This blue-print is called a ‘Community Strategic Plan’ (CSP).

The CSP describes the ‘high-level’ directions the community wants to explore, and then sets topic-area objectives and individual strategies for the incoming council (and future councils) to work towards over the next ten years.

Orange City Council arranged its first CSP planning conversation in 2011/2012. A 2nd conversation was held 2017/18. This will be the 3rd time a plan has been developed. You can read more about the earlier CSP here.(link)

Instead of criticising the council for what it doesn’t do, being involved in a future planning exercise can help community members shape what the council does do.

Also, the Council wants to think big about our brilliant future – but to really be successful, we need your bright ideas. This is your city, and it’s important for the council to know what its future looks like to you.

The CSP and its goals are the key blueprint that shapes council budgets (How money is spent) each year.

The CSP’s 10-year focus also guides long-term planning to :

·  let major projects be funded

·  deliver council services

·  maintain council assets, and

·  employ the staffing numbers needed to deliver these services.

The CSP also acts as a check-list which lets the council and the community keep track of progress on delivering on those strategies.

The Exploring our Future community consultation will happen in two stages.  First, online, then, face-to-face.

By visiting the YourSay Orange site, any resident can register and share their ideas about the future of Orange, by responding to questions such as  :

•   Where are we now?

•   Where do we want to be in 10 years’ time?

•   How will we get there?

•   How will we know we’ve arrived?

There are many different ways to answer these questions. The YourSay Orange site lets residents :

• use a map,
• share their idea,
• contribute a photo or video, or
• tell their story

This online process will start in November and last until mid-January. The ideas collected at this stage will be used to develop a set of draft themes.

The 2^nd phase of the ‘Exloring our Future’ project aims to further refine these themes. It will happen from January to March next year. The community will have a range of further opportunities to have their say, including :

• attending a community meeting
• leaving a note in a suggestion box
• staging a home-based conversation
• talking face-to-face at pop-up stalls in shopping centres or market-days
• making a  further contribution online
• and more.

There are a number of ways for you to get involved between now and March 2018.

• At www.yoursayorange.nsw.gov.au you can share your bright ideas or vote for ideas that have already been submitted.
• Our pop-up teams will be at a variety of events and locations throughout the city this Summer, and they’d love to talk to you. Check out the event listing with dates here.
• Finally, you can always email us at council@orange.nsw.gov.au, or send us a message on Facebook with any any questions or comments you have.

All this work is about making a blue-print for the future called the ‘Community Strategic Plan’ (CSP).

At the end of the community consultation, we’ll compile what we’ve heard from residents,  businesses and other organisations with a stake in our future, to produce a draft plan.

The draft plan will be considered at a council meeting in May 2022 and then made available for community comment, to check that we've got it right.

The final plan, with any changes based on community feedback, will be adopted by the newly-elected council during June 2022.