New panel to brainstorm city initiatives
RESEARCHERS are looking for people to join a new online panel to provide feedback on local initiatives and dream up ideas for Lismore’s future.
Community News
Don't miss out on the headlines from Community News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
RESEARCHERS are looking for people to join a new online panel to provide feedback on local initiatives and dream up ideas for Lismore's future.
The Northern Rivers Community Panel is a Southern Cross University inititive that could have anywhere between 100 and 1000 members depending on the level of response.
The first project to be reviewed will be Lismore City Council's 'Come to the Heart' project, which is funded through the Special Business Rate Variation Levy and guided by representatives from Lismore's business community.
City Centre Manager Katie O'Rourke said Come to the Heart was designed to revitalise the CBD with events like the twice-weekly farmers' market and it would be enlightening to see the panel's response.
"This will be a great gauge of the community's thoughts about how Come to the Heart is working," Ms O'Rourke said.
"We've had feedback anecdotally but it will be really interesting to have something from people with expertise in research so we can look at what's working and what's not and how we can continue to improve.
"The revitalisation of the CBD has been identified in other Council initiatives such as the Imagine Lismore Community Strategic Plan and the Sustainable Economic Development Strategy 2020 as vital for Lismore. Getting input and new ideas can only help us create an even better CBD in the future."
Deputy Head of the Southern Cross Business School Dr Peter Vitartas said active, vibrant CBD centres are the lifeblood of regional communities and as a result, Come to the Heart was the perfect project to kick-start the community panel's research.
Dr Vitartas said the panel will go on to look at many other projects with members likely to be contacted once every two months to participate in a survey. SCU is recruiting until late October and Peter urged people to sign up now.
"Anyone in Lismore or surrounding villages who is interested in the community or contributing their ideas should put their hand up," he said.
"Community panels are an innovative way to capture the community's input to local issues and allow more people to be involved. It should be an interesting experience and people can join for as long as they like."
To sign up for the community panel visit the university's website here.
Originally published as New panel to brainstorm city initiatives
‘Refreshing’: Byron council more diverse than ever
For the first time, there are more women on Byron Shire Council than men, with mayor Sarah Ndiaye saying the gender diversity would have positive impacts on decision making in the community.
Students tackle cost of living, global warming in ‘wicked’ challenge
Year 6 students from two northern NSW public schools are jetting off to Sydney for the challenge of a lifetime – which if solved, could fix a slew of worldwide problems.