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Community engagement showcasing events

• Brisbane Community Engagement Showcase 2007
• Brisbane City Council Showcase
  • Creative Democracy - Homelessness
  • Engaging communities using cultural processes - Chermside Community Hub
• Central Queensland Showcase
  • Devising and implementing the District Youth Achievement Plan for the ETRF Senior Phase of Learning
  • Integrated Area-Wide Management as an Approach to Landscape Management
  • Rolleston Coal Project
  • Yeppoon Western Bypass Road
• Emergency Services Showcase
  • Community Safety Project
  • Engaging Indigenous Communities
  • Local Ambulance Committees
  • Queensland Ambulance Service First Responders
• Goodna Outreach Showcase
• Hervey Bay Showcase
  • Australian Industry Engineering Manufacturing Network Ltd
  • Wide Bay Burnett Human Services Network
  • New prison in a new town
• Ipswich Showcase
  • Swanbank Community Reference Group
  • Community Hubs Project in Esk Shire
  • Ipswich Area Regional Disability Council (IARDC)
• Mackay Showcase
  • Mackay Highlands Coordinating Committee
  • Queensland Marine Academy
  • Mackay Childhood Injury Prevention Project
  • Mackay Alcohol and Other Drugs Community Partnership
• NRM Showcase
  • Review of Ministerial Advisory Arrangements
  • CHRRUPP Experiment and Future Options for Community Engagement
  • Community Involvement in Mary River Planning
• Queensland Police Service Showcase
  • Mareeba Truancy and Graffiti (TAG) project
  • Community Support
  • Mareeba Shire Council - Local Government view
  • Mareeba State High School - Community Education Counsellor view
  • Mareeba State High School - Education view
• Townsville Showcase
  • La Luna Youth Art
  • Minimizing Road Trauma
  • Speak Out 2003
  • Palm Island Community Youth Centre Consultation Process
  • District Youth Achievement Plan
  • Young Achievement Enterprise Education Program

Mackay Showcase

Mackay Highlands Coordinating Committee (MHCC)

• Background
• What is different about this case study that shows how government and communities can better engage with each other?
• What are the key outcomes of the case study for government and community?
• What are the key learnings/insights about community engagement?
• What will sustain community engagement into the future in this case study?

This case study describes an initiative to coordinate community engagement in relation to park and forest planing processes

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and the identification and promotion of environmentally sustainable tourism opportunities within the Clarke-Connors Ranges. A key outcome of this Committee has been the development and adoption of a Strategic Plan for the Mackay Highlands.

Background

The Mackay Highlands Coordinating Committee (MHCC) was established in January 2001 to provide community input into national park and state forest planning processes and to identify and promote environmentally sustainable tourism and recreation opportunities within the Clarke-Connors Ranges. The Committee was formed in response to issues raised at the fourth Mackay/Whitsunday Ministerial Regional Community Forum in August 2000.

Membership of the MHCC includes representatives from Commonwealth, Local and State Government agencies, environmental organisations, tourism operators and developers, graziers and community groups. Administrative support for the Committee is provided by the Mackay/Whitsunday Office of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the current Chair is a Councillor from Mirani Shire.

Most Committee work is conducted through three Working Parties in the areas of; Tourism Product Development, Planning and Infrastructure and Environment and Recreation.

What is different about this case study that shows how government and communities can better engage with each other?

There is a history of community based natural resource management in Queensland, but standing arrangements to provide community input into the planning and management of national parks are not as common. The Committee coordinates planning processes across a number of jurisdictions and provides a strategic approach to the future of a large wilderness mass and adjacent rural communities.

The MHCC coordinates engagement with diverse groups which have a shared interest in or responsibility for nature conservation, tourism or recreation in the Mackay Highlands. Despite this diversity of membership the MHCC has experienced generally positive and productive relationships, with attendances remaining stable over the two years of its existence. There is a consistent effort to ensure that the needs of all participants are reflected in the business of the Committee.

What are the key outcomes of the case study for government and community?

Over the past two and a half years, the Committee has been involved in a broad range of activities and has achieved a number of tangible social, environmental and economic outcomes including:

• the inclusion of the area in the $10 million Great Walks of Queensland program with approximately $1million allocated to a Mackay Highlands Great Walk;
• significant improvements in the infrastructure and public facilities at Eungella National Park;
• the development of a community owned and operated campsite as part of the Mackay Highlands Great Walk;
• the delivery of training programs in ecotourism planning and management;
• representation of water quality issues in the Broken River that has resulted in this site being included as the only tropical location in national trials for the introduction of new recreational water standards;
• an initiative to coordinate and expedite local government approval processes for farmstay and bed and breakfast accommodation;
• research with Central Queensland University on potential tourism identities and images for the Mackay Highlands that could be incorporated into marketing strategies and campaigns;
• the development of a cultural heritage assessment of historic Homevale Homestead;
• a review and analysis of tourism development studies of the Mackay Highlands and Pioneer Valley that have been conducted over the last decade;
• significant input into Planning for the Future in the Mackay Highlands, a key Queensland Parks and Wildlife planning and policy document on the Mackay Highlands, that was launched by Environment Minister, Dean Wells in June 2003.

In addition to these practical benefits, there has also been a gradual improvement in trust and communication between community and industry groups and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

What are the key learnings/insights about community engagement?

• When Government enters into a partnership or process of engagement with the community it must uphold the agreed terms of reference.M
• Community engagement is a learning and development process for all involved. This involves changes to the capacity and understanding of the individuals involved and in the quality of the relationships and networks that are created.
• Community engagement requires a 'champion' within Government to advocate for the value and legitimacy of the process and to provide practical support until the capacity of the community is adequately developed.

What will sustain community engagement into the future in this case study?

The launch of Planning for the Future in the Mackay Highlands was a watershed event in the development of the MHCC in that it marked the successful culmination of the first phase of the Committee's activities. With this policy document in place, the focus of the Committee's work will shift from involvement in park and forest planning to the identification and facilitation of ecotourism opportunities in lands adjacent to these protected areas. These activities will require the MHCC to establish and develop new relationships with a broader set of stakeholders that will vary in accordance with the focus of a particular project. The critical factor here will be the capacity of the MHCC to transfer the learnings and apply the experiences of the first phase to the new challenges of the second. This will require building relationships with other Government partners such as Main Roads and Tourism Queensland, and maintaining the established partnership with QPWS.

The establishment of linkages between MHCC and other national park community advisory bodies such as the Springbrook/Gold Coast Hinterland Community Based Planning Initiative and the Numinbah/Nerang Forest Working Group would also help to sustain and develop the Committee's work into the future.