The City of Cockburn’s Comment on Cockburn online engagement website helps make Cockburn the best place to be.
The award-winning platform enables registered residents to have their say on a variety of City proposals across Cockburn’s 23 suburbs.
Since its establishment in 2016, website registrations have increased from 1,055 to 8,912 and between 2019-2020 registrations increased by 70 per cent.
Registered residents can opt to receive a notification each time there is an opportunity for them to have their say, giving locals an easy, accessible way to let us know what is important to them.
City of Cockburn Advocacy and Engagement Lead Daniel Newman said community engagement was a vital opportunity for residents to shape their neighbourhoods.
“We all want to make Cockburn the best place to be and this engagement portal is a simple way to get involved,” Mr Newman said.
“This is especially true during Covid when online surveys, discussion boards, listening posts, polls and Q&As are a safe, effective way to get involved in the decision-making process.
“Providing an engagement tool such as Comment on Cockburn also fulfills one of the City’s five key objectives in its Strategic Community Plan 2020-2030 – Listening and Leading.”
Residents can participate in community engagement via phone calls or in writing, and once Covid restrictions ease, the City’s Comment on Cockburn team will return to providing face-to-face workshops and on-site info sessions.
An important opportunity to have your say will be available during March as the City reviews and updates its community engagement policy and framework.
There will be online workshops and surveys available on the website, with a chance to shape how we engage with you, with a chance to win a dash cam.
The City won the environment category of the International Association for Public Participation’s Core Values Awards for community consultation in 2021.
The City took out the award for its Comment on Cockburn community consultation while preparing its Climate Change Strategy 2020-2030, achieved largely online following the arrival of Covid.
The Climate Change Strategy proposal on Comment on Cockburn had more than 2,000 visits and the community engagement team was able to reach more than 10,000 people with information about the project, including 40 per cent of online workshop participants aged under 25.
Popular past community consultations have included dog and cat management, Radiata Park upgrades, Cockburn’s 10-year Strategic Community Plan, verge collections, choosing a name for Cockburn ARC and the Coogee Beach Eco Shark Barrier.
Some of the current projects at
Comment on Cockburn to have your say on include safety upgrades to bridges at Ngarkal Beach, North Coogee, traffic calming on Blackwood Avenue and Ely Street, Hamilton Hill and a proposed nature play area at Tapper Park, Atwell.