FAQs

Ballarat City Council makes the following commitment to you:

- We will work to ensure that as many people can take part in the engagement process as possible by using a variety of engagement methods and actively seeking input from a wide range of participants. We also invite you to engage on our behalf with your contacts, clubs, friends and family to ensure a broad representation of the community is heard.

- We will communicate clearly and avoid jargon and complicated language and ideas.

- We will respect community ideas and thoughts and ensure all contributions are recorded.

- We will ensure Council Officers and Councillors receive a detailed summary of community input and that this is considered in decision-making.

Things that can be influenced:

• The key aspirations and themes that guide the Community Vision
• Council's priorities for the next 4 years
• Those priorities for action in the Council Plan will influence spending in future budgets
• Prioritisation of Council spend over a range of service and infrastructure categories in the long-term

Things that can't be influenced:

• Timeline and resources for community engagement
• Deadlines for engagement and completion of the Plans
• The lengths of the Plans (i.e. 1 year, 4 year or 10 year)
• Services, projects and actions we are legally required to provide
• Services, projects and actions that are already planned or for which funding has already been received
• The ability to influence the 2021/2022 Budget and the 2021-2025 Revenue and Rating Plan is limited due to legislated timelines but feedback can be incorporated in to future budgets and the long-term Financial Plan
• Compliance with legal requirements