Resident and landowner engagement in Hoppers Crossing
Future housing change and neighbourhood character in Wyndham (detail)
The Challenge
Wyndham City Council have recently updated its Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy (led by CoFutures) to respond to its significant levels of growth and change in the municipality.
In developing the Strategy, one residential precinct within the municipality was highlighted in particular as an area for further strategic investigation. It is located on the axis of Wyndham’s established neighbourhoods and its urban growth areas. Over the past 15 years, land around the precinct has been experiencing a high degree of change and development pressure.
In mid-2023 Council resolved to commence a targeted and detailed landowner engagement process to understand the level of change and neighbourhood character that residents would like to see in the area.
Building on parallel engagement undertaken, CoFutures was engaged to lead a comprehensive engagement program targeting residents and landowners in the precinct. A key objective of the engagement was to gather a robust set of data to inform decision making about the future level of housing change and appropriate planning response.
What We Did
- Designed and facilitated a targeted consultation process, with the objective of communicating and engaging with every resident and landowner.
- Developed an online engage page and resident survey, and targeted FAQs.
- Facilitated dedicated resident drop-in sessions, with invitations and correspondence to the landowners and residents.
- Drafting and design of tailored collateral and copy.
- Delivered 2 x letter box drops to residents.
- Mailed out communication and promotion materials to ensure all residents had an opportunity to have their say and be involved in the engagement process.
Outcomes
By the end of the engagement process, all 147 landowners in the precinct were notified of the project and given an opportunity to participate. 51 participants contributed to the engagement program, and over 40 participants attended one of two resident drop-in session, reaching approximately two thirds of the residents living in the precinct.
The findings of the targeted landowner engagement were summarised in a dedicated engagement findings report and submitted to Council. These findings have directly informed the appropriate housing change area and land use planning approach.
