Council Minutes - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 28 AUGUST 2012
3. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Written Questions
Mr Graham Hornel, 93 Empire, City Beach
In the major works item in the August, 2012 'Cambridge News' it was announced that the
2012/13 budget allocates $540,000 for the Wembley Golf Course hospitality project. In
response to my question on this to the CEO, an informative response from the Director
Projects explained some of the background behind this allocation - and referred me to a
link on the Town Web site. The information presented in the linked item states that over
500 of us accepted the Town's email invitation to respond to an online survey canvassing
our opinion on the nature and feasibility of hospitality improvements at the Golf Course.
Having given of my effort and time to respond - and other than an electronic thanks note
at the end of this e-survey - it appears that I was one of the 500 plus who then heard
nothing further directly until that 'Cambridge News' announcement some months later.
Question 1
Was a component of the Town's agreement with the successful tenderer for that survey,
the requirement to follow up to keep those who contributed fully informed with even a
summary of the results - and, if not, then why not
Response
The survey was managed by a sub consultant to the Architect who was awarded the
contract for this project. The sub consultant's brief did not include publication of results.
The purpose of the survey was to gain some market research to inform the design
process for a preferred concept for future community consultation and does not relate to
a specific decision to be made at this time. The results of this work have not yet been
presented to Council and the designs have not yet progressed to a stage where
community consultation is ready.
Question 2
Towards avoiding the perception that the overall process is not totally transparent
because there was no formal follow up, is it agreed that all contracts for such surveys
should include provision for programmed follow up
Response
The Town has a policy for community consultation and will ensure feedback is provided in
accordance with the policy.
Question 3
Since a response of over 500 represents a fairly significant number of ratepayers and
residents, is it agreed that is totally inadequate that, in order to obtain further information -
even if this does not include even a summary of the survey input and results - the only
source is the few words included in an item that is only accessible through a very long
link to the Town web site
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