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Bass Coast Shire Council seeks community feedback on draft policy to strengthen engagement and decision-making until 21 October 2026

Bass Coast Shire Council is seeking feedback on its draft Community Engagement Policy to strengthen participation, clarify engagement expectations and ensure community input informs council decision-making. Submissions close 21 October 2026.

By news@gippsland - 18th September 2026 - Back to News

Bass Coast Shire Council is inviting our communities to share their feedback on our draft Community Engagement Policy. The draft Policy follows the adoption of council's Communications, Engagement and Advocacy Strategy 2026-2029 earlier this year. During the development of the Strategy, the council heard from the community about what meaningful engagement looks like and how people want to be involved in decisions that affect them.

Bass Coast Council is seeking feedback on its draft Community Engagement Policy, aiming to strengthen participation and ensure community voices help shape decisions. Submissions close 21 October 2026

Bass Coast Council is seeking feedback on its draft Community Engagement Policy, aiming to strengthen participation and ensure community voices help shape decisions. Submissions close 21 October 2026

Engagement policy updated

One of the key actions from the Strategy was a review of council's Community Engagement Policy in 2026. The draft Policy builds on that feedback and sets out council’s commitment to genuine and purposeful community engagement and establishes consistent expectations for when and how we engage, and how community feedback contributes to council decision-making. It also provides the practical principles and expectations that guide how council engages with our communities in its decision-making.

Bass Coast Mayor Cr Brett Tessari explained the importance of community engagement as one of the many elements that help councillors make decisions. "There are so many different views and experiences and we always want to hear from people who have lived experiences and local knowledge to help us make the best possible decisions for our communities. We always want to consider the views of our communities as we weigh up those with research and data, legislation, technical advice and financial implications when we make decisions."

"This Policy will help us strengthen our engagement practices, have a consistent approach to when we engage and how we engage and provide genuine opportunities where the views and opinions we seek can influence the decision or outcome. Community engagement is so important as it helps us understand the needs, priorities, experiences and perspectives of the people and communities we serve," Cr Tessari concluded.

Policy feedback invited

To read the draft Policy and provide your feedback visit our Engage Bass Coast website to have your say before 21 October 2026. If you’d like to chat about the Policy in person, we'll be attending a range of community events and locations to make it easy for people to talk to us about the Policy and council's approach to community engagement.

If you would like the Community Engagement Team to come along to a community group event or meeting you're a part of - reach out to the team on engagement@basscoast.vic.gov.au or call 1300 BCOAST (226 278) or (03) 5671 2211.

Pictures from Bass Coast Shire Council website.


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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