Brand Rollout
The Service Improvement Branch has this year allocated resources to the review of Council ’ s operational plan , including its structure and allocated milestones and key performance indicators . This was completed during the transition phase of the performance planning aspect of the online central system . Council now has a central , single source of truth for how the organisation is tracking against the 2014-2019 Corporate Plan . This online program will ensure Council is able to better resource its internal processes and provide sustainable , efficient services to our community .
Collaborative community consultation
The future of the Toowoomba Region is bright and it ’ s important that our entire community has the opportunity to share their thoughts , feelings and are able to collaborate on the projects , services and issues that affect them . This year saw a number of milestones reached with Council ’ s Your Say site ( yoursay . tr . qld . gov . au ) including over 25,000 visits to the site , over 1,000 people actively sharing their thoughts via survey and over 20,000 documents downloaded from the site . This online consultation tool means that we are able to reach a large number of our residents and engage them on Council ’ s projects and services . The Your Say community consultation online platform is completely accessible and responsive to mobile , tablet and desktop devices .
To meet the diverse needs of our community , Council must offer consultation options including face-to-face , phone and online options to encourage a crosssection of respondents . This year prior to Caretaker Period , Council ran Community Conversation events to allow our residents the opportunity to have their say in a face-to-face forum and hear from our Mayor , Councillors and subject matter experts on a variety of topics . The events were held during the day on a Friday for one-on-one time with Councillors , as well as evening events outside of hours to cater for working residents . Community Conversations were successfully completed from July to December ( before Caretaker Period ) with a total attendance of 257 . The new Councillors will decide in the 2016-17 financial year of the viability of these sessions and explore other options for face-to-face consultation .
Public consultation on how Council does business , including programs , services and facilities , ensures
residents are part of the decision-making processes on projects that affect them . This year saw over 1,000 stakeholder engagement activities completed including consultation work for a number of highimpact projects :
• Water and waste management
• Imagine Tomorrow
• The trial Council Cab service
• Car parking
• Boundary Street upgrade works
• Local laws .
The feedback received from these public consultations will form the basis for the vision of our region .
Communications to our residents
Think of our region as a patchwork quilt , each town is unique , but we share a vision for respecting our past and old-fashioned values and are confident and aspirational for our future . With the adoption and staged roll out of the new Toowoomba Region brand , we have worked with the community to encompass unique identifiers and photography that reflects the raw , authenticity of our towns and locales . This has resulted in the completion of community templates that allow community groups , progress associations and local event planners to use the branding of their area to promote the amazing things happening around them . The brand templates are the first step in a community toolbox to promote the region and encourage key groups to ‘ self-serve ’ with professional , contemporary poster templates .
In addition to the templates for the community , an internal toolkit has also been created for staff to communicate with the people of our region , as well as consistent , corporate-branded internal communications assets . This roll-out has been implemented across letterhead , envelopes , business cards , signage , uniforms , plant and fleet , buildings , street signs and facilities . The brand will continue to be a phased roll out over the coming years as assets are due for refresh .
Digital communications
With the growth of almost 100 per cent across all of Council ’ s social media platforms , this year saw Council audit our digital processes and investigate options for improvements to enhance the governance surrounding
118 CHAPTER 4 Our goals TOOWOOMBA REGIONAL COUNCIL Annual Report 2015 - 2016