Community ideas for new services, initiatives and projects to be considered for annual budgets will be captured 365 days a year thanks to the new innovative Talking Kingston community consultation.
Kingston Mayor Hadi Saab said invites community members to provide year-round feedback for immediate action or to consider for funding in future budgets.
“This is a great way for us to capture a wide mix of ideas well before we start drafting our budget. It ensures that we have the community’s great suggestions on our radar for the future if an idea can’t be implemented in the short-term,” Cr Saab said.
“Most Councils ask once a year for budget ideas from the community – we’ve decided to make that opportunity available all year-round.”
Cr Saab said any ideas received by the end of February will be considered for the coming year’s budget.
“Putting together our budget is a complex task which takes place early in the year, so we are encouraging residents, sporting clubs and community groups to submit their ideas now. We will assess them alongside existing needs and planned projects as we plan to spend ratepayer money wisely to deliver over 100 different services for our community.”
Cr Saab said Kingston was committed to partnering with the community to shape Council services, projects and initiatives.
“We run around 100 community consultations annually, last year we had 120,000 visits to our consultation website Your Kingston Your Say plus we chatted with many of you out and about at farmers markets, festivals and local events.”
More than 12,000 people have already signed up for Your Kingston Your Say to help shape a wide range of projects across Kingston. A recent competition helped boost registrations for Your Kingston Your Say with an extra 800 people signing up for the chance to win one of three iPads.
Congratulations to the three winners of the iPad competition, Craig, Effie and Ian, who were invited to meet Mayor Hadi Saab and receive their prize.
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