Citizen Participation In Local Government Corporate Planning In Queensland

As part of recent reform policies in Australian local government, municipal councils have been required to develop various corporate planning instruments in order to improve their 'accountability' to the local community. Global trends in local governance and citizen participation provide a rationale for community engagement to be an integral part of councils' corporate planning processes as a form of participatory democracy. This paper examines the practical application of these concepts through a 'community visioning' process conducted by a small urban council in South East Queensland within the context of the Size, Shape and Sustainability program initiated by the Queensland state government.