Few councillors think a community Q&A water information session is a good idea.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cr Margaret O'Connor proposed a Town Hall-style meeting where the public could tell councillors their water concerns, and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall and Member for New England Barnaby Joyce could address their constituents from a state and federal perspective.
"We are facing a completely new future, [and] significantly hotter temperatures for the foreseeable future right across Australia," Cr O'Connor said at last week's council meeting. "We need to talk with our community about longer-term issues around water and water use."
Council overwhelmingly rejected the proposal: four in favour (Crs O'Connor, O'Brien, Robinson, Tiley) to seven against.
The latter believe council is doing enough already, or worry that the meeting would be fruitless, or, worse, descend into chaos.
READ ALSO:
- Water expo: Council and community determined to beat Day Zero
- Children, fighters, bikes and classic cars fill street at Thunderbolt Festival
- CultureFest this weekend will celebrate the region's multiculturalism
- Man charged with kidnapping and sexually abusing victim in home
- Change coming for mall markets as Rotary departs
Cr O'Connor believed a Town Hall meeting would help the public to understand what council was doing to ensure water supply in the region. Council had held a forum for the Armidale Business Chamber, but, she thought, they needed to reach ordinary people.
"A lot of residents are really scared," Cr O'Connor said. "Some are planning to leave; and some have already left because of the fear. We need as a council to show leadership, and meet and talk with them."
Council could reassure Armidale and Guyra residents that their towns have a future, despite the drought, and talk about solutions such as water recycling.
The idea had not been palatable in the past, but the region's sustainability in a hotter climate depended upon it, Cr O'Connor said.
"There are a lot of technologies out there to support recycling," Cr O'Connor said. "We're not doing any of that yet; we need to get onto it, and talk with the community about this."
Armidale Regional Council, Cr O'Connor said, was under observation from the state's biggest newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald. Brandishing a copy of the paper, she pointed to articles this week about Armidale running out of water.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the town?
Council management, however, advised that large town hall style community meetings were not conducive to providing meaningful outreach with the community.
"Often they are hijacked by individuals with an agenda, and don't allow the broader community to participate," management advised in the meeting agenda.
Council CEO Susan Law said: "If you want to work with people, and you want people to be informed, and inform us, a town hall type meeting is not the best format for that.
"We much prefer smaller, less formal groups, and working one-on-one with people." (Such as, for instance, Sunday's water expo one-stop shop at the markets, where hundreds of people came.) "They're much less daunting, but it's also much easier to convey information."
Earlier this month, council addressed the Armidale Business Chamber and Rotary; they will hold information sessions for other community groups, such as the Armidale Family Support Group, over the next three months.
"If you were just sitting in a town hall," Mrs Law said, "we would have to make some guesses about what you want to know, and we'd give a very global picture rather than a more tailored message for you."
In town hall meetings, Mrs Law said, articulate people tend to capture the floor from ordinary householders who might be less used to speaking in public.
Cr Widders also worried a public meeting about such a highly emotive issue could descend into anarchy, as happened at a meeting about proposed changes to the Mall; while Cr Bailey insinuated the meeting would provide a platform for people with a long-term political agenda for council elections next September.
"What price local democracy?" Cr Tiley retorted.
He disagreed with the suggestion that community meetings were meaningless; he had attended such meetings for 50 years, and found them great ways for council to interact with the community, provide information, seek input and ideas, and be more open and transparent.
"This mechanism is another way of connecting with people, not just to give them information, but to get feedback, so it's not a one-way street," Cr Tiley said.
Hearing from the community?
Crs Widders, Galletly, and Bailey, speaking against the motion, argued that council was doing enough already.
"I don't believe by running a town hall meeting that we'll add anything to the equation," Cr Bailey said. "If people in this town have a problem with what we're doing, we get phone calls, messages, emails telling us."
What new information, Cr Widders wondered, could a town hall meeting put out? Both he and Cr Galletly appeared in water conservation videos, while council had market stalls, its water expo, media releases in both traditional and social media, advertisements throughout Armidale and Guyra, community meetings (with business), surveys, and incentives.
"Every bit of information that should be out there is out there," Cr Widders said.
Naysayers, Cr O'Connor responded, seemed to believe that all council had to do was tell the community what they wanted them to hear, by multiple channels.
"Some of us have a vision of transparent democracy, where we actually aren't afraid of our community, where we want to talk with them," she said.
A survey or hiring a PR strategist from Sydney to send specific messages to the community, Cr O'Connor argued, was not the same as council sitting down with the community, hearing from them, and talking with them about the crisis.
"We're in new territory, and the least we can do as leaders is to enter into a dialogue."
Crs O'Brien and Robinson commended council's outreach efforts, and the hard work of council staff, but thought more could be done.
Educating and informing the public through media releases; getting feedback online; and pop-up stores were all good, Cr O'Brien thought, but one-sided, online, or one-on-one.
At a town hall meeting, Cr O'Brien said, everyone present could hear individuals' problems, and receive the same answer from council.
Cr Robinson agreed the meeting would be helpful rather than a hindrance; it would reach a wider audience quickly, who could share tips and information about water saving.
"In the end, it will do as much as some of the other outreach programs in helping us to address this water crisis," she said.
If Mr Joyce and Mr Marshall attended a meeting that highlighted the region's problems, she believed, that would increase council's chances of getting more funding to solve them.