Community consultation in ACT Healthy Waterways

Abstract

Plans for further water management projects in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) are due to be discussed in coming years, with resource allocation decisions made by the ACT government a major point of concern. These decisions will have a significant implication on the future of community consultation. This thesis aims to establish the importance of consultation, and suggest pathways to improve on existing efforts. The focus of this study is on water management projects in the ACT. The Healthy Waterways and Canberra Integrated Urban Waterways projects are used as cases for reference. These projects were managed by the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD). The first objective is to identify and compare the values and drawbacks of consultation and engagement in reference to these water management projects. The findings regarding this aim revealed that it is currently unfeasible for the EPSDD to be deeply engaged with communities affected by these projects. Instead, a thorough negotiation procedure between the government and affected communities, whereby expectations and reasons are adjusted, should be considered. This would contribute to the creation of an optimal consultation environment for projects such as Healthy Waterways. The second objective is to propose tangible recommendations to improve on the representation of local stakeholders in catchment management projects. Qualitative research methods are used in the data collection component of this thesis, with semi-structured interviews as the primary data source. A small selection of individuals are interviewed. The research design favours research depth over a breadth of responses, with semi-structured interviews enabling the expansion of responses and the magnification of key themes. Further advances in recreating community consultation norms may be constructed by the findings of this thesis. Through this thesis, other prospective research topics are revealed. Novel contributions from this thesis include recommendations to the EPSDD for future directions in community consultation regarding water management plans. This indicates how ACT government departments can improve their approach to consulting communities. Suggestions made in this thesis are intended to be used as foundations for further, more detailed research. Show more