A recent survey indicates that Chatham-Kent residents would like to see some more engagement from local officials when it comes to the municipal process.
As part of council's priorities for the term, a public survey was launched towards the end of 2020 to discover the most effective ways to engage with residents.
According to a report coming to council on Monday, over 83 per cent of respondents said they believe the municipality should do more to engage with the public.
"We asked participants why they think the municipality does not engage with the community as much as it could. Participants felt the municipality does not care what the public says, does not communicate the linkage between participating and policymaking, and they feel decisions are often made before the community is involved," the report stated.
Additionally, residents who took the survey were asked how they would rate the municipality's current approach to engagement, with one being 'very poor' and five being 'excellent.'
According to the results, 43 per cent of respondents gave the municipality a rating of three. Thirty per cent of people responded with a one rating, or very poor.
"It is interesting to note when participants were asked how often they participated in community engagement activities, 40 per cent of the participants indicated they rarely participated in municipal community engagement, with almost 27 per cent stating they regularly participate," the report stated.
A total of 186 people participated in the survey.
Just over half of participants said one of the main things that kept them from participating in municipal processes was that they were convinced it wouldn't make a difference. Forty per cent of people said they had limited time and 35 per cent said they feel they do not have enough information to meaningfully participate.
"When asked what the top factor would be to motivate them to participate more in the future, many of the participants stated better communication on how to be involved and knowing their opinion matters and their voice is being heard," read the report.
The majority of participants indicated they would be “very interested” to be involved in discussions regarding trees and tree coverage, environmental and climate action. This was followed-up by recreation and leisure, land use planning, growth and development and budget and financial issues.
To help make community engagement more successful, participants suggested that administration and council use multiple methods to engage, listen to the demands and concerns of the community and take into consideration information from community engagement before making decisions.
According to the report, administration is working with council and Community Development Committees to develop strategies to enhance community engagement. Reports on the efforts will be shared with council.
A more detailed look at survey results can be found by clicking here.
