#71 Local Street Management (pt 8) - Community Participation and Information

The eighth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], summarises Section 6 of the Austroads Guide, covering Community Participation and Information. This feeds into all six stages of the LATM planning and implementation process covered in previous briefs

Role, objectives and benefits of community involvement

Many of the warrant criteria used to establish needs and priorities for LATM depend on inputs from the community and its representatives (Austroads 2020, p.58).

Consultation with and participation of community is central for establishing LATM needs and priorities. While community consultation is used in almost 95% of Australian and New Zealand LATM considerations, according to research cited in Austroads (2020), the process can take various forms and approaches depending on the level of need. This can range from simply considering community feedback to council (the “most passive form”), through to a full LATM consultation process as described in the Guide. The number and type/s of treatments to be implemented, and their potential effects on traffic redistribution, are key factors that inform the level and forms of consultation required.

Although technical requirements of an LATM scheme may be met without community participation, its involvement is highly likely to support a successful overall outcome by building community acceptance and sense of ownership while identifying concerns.

Only through on-going consultation are residents likely to understand and accept any undesirable effects and consequently accept the scheme.

Table 6.1 in the Austroads Guide (2020, p.60) maps the objectives of community participation against each of the six LATM planning stages. Community involvement may not be necessary at all six stages, and the initial stages should be used to determine participation needs for subsequent stages. Ideally, however, there should be a continuous consultation process.

Basic requirements

The basic considerations to be included for community participation in every approach are summarised from the Guide as:

• Continuous process from initiation through post-implementation monitoring

• Outcome-driven process supported by all stakeholders

• Identification and inclusion of all relevant stakeholders from the beginning

• Enthusiastic rather than obligatory participation

• Presentation of all information in understandable form

• Explanation of impacts and trade-offs, including secondary impacts

• Two-way communication through all appropriate media

• Identification of council and associated contact points

• Confidence of participants in the process is ensured

• Practitioners contribute judgement and information as needed

• Council awareness of appropriate timing of events and processes

• Elected representatives to facilitate rather than lead the process

• Technical staff provide advice on most appropriate solutions

  
  

Potential problems

Austroads identifies potential difficulties to be encountered within the community participation process, including:

• Participation needs time and resources

• Public scrutiny of processes and decisions

• Disproportionate influence of some groups/stakeholders over others

• Unrealistic expectations of involvement and/or outcomes

• Conflicts around decision-making processes

• Rejection of the validity of non-professional input

• Resistance to the “myth” of one superior (technical) solution

[1] Austroads (2020). Guide to Traffic Management Part 8: Local Street Management. Sydney, Austroads. https://austroads.gov.au/publications/traffic-management/agtm08