Capping off a successful Local Government Week, MidCoast Council has received a highly commended award at the annual Local Government Awards.
The award was received in the Planning Awards category at the LGNSW Awards Dinner on Thursday 4 August in a very competitive field that included Campbelltown City, Central Coast, City of Parramatta, City of Sydney, Lake Macquarie and Penrith Councils.
While Penrith Council took out top honours, MidCoast Council’s “Know Your Zone” program was recognised as an exceptional entry in the category which was dominated by metropolitan councils.
“This is an outstanding achievement as the smallest council in the category in terms of population size,” said Council’s General Manager Adrian Panuccio.
“It’s a great achievement for the staff involved, particularly in the Land Use Planning team, with the support of our Engagement, Communication and Education, and Customer Service teams.”
Council’s submission to the LG NSW Awards was for the ‘Know your Zone’ community engagement project, which involved developing land use strategies for our urban areas and rural landscapes.
The project was extensive with over 1200 individual discussions about the strategies at 31 drop-in sessions, more than 700 phone calls, and involving around 20,000 visits to the website.
The project demonstrates that Council is listening to the community, with 75% of the urban submissions resulting in a change to the draft plans. The team is currently working through the submissions received on the rural strategy.
“The outcomes from the Know Your Zone program provides a great foundation for developing the new MidCoast Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan,” said Mr Panuccio.
