​​​​​​​Community Panel provides its vision for outdoor space at Lane Cove Golf Course

Thank you to our local residents involved in the Community Panel

26 June Update

Here it is! A sincere thank you to the 35 residents who formed Lane Cove's first Community Panel. The Panel was made up of a representative sample of individuals to match the demographics of the Lane Cove community and were independently selected to consider an important brief on behalf of the community - you can find out more about the process of their selection below. The Community Panel process was facilitated by Mosaic Lab and Gauge Consulting.

Today the Panel finalised their report which considered the current Golf Course and addressed their remit "What is the best use of the outdoor areas on the site to meet our community needs now and in the future?". To help answer the remit, the Panel was given access to information and resources to help them with this activity as it evolved. This included a site visit, a range of background documents, guest speakers, reports, data and answers to a broad range of questions posed by the Panel. The end result is a report that includes an overarching vision for the site developed by the community, for the community. It is accompanied by a set of criteria that will be used to inform future decision making about uses on the outdoor areas of the Golf Course. The Panel's report will be presented to Council for its consideration at the 19 July 2021 Council meeting.

The Community Panel's vision is: 

"Lane Cove Golf Course provides an accessible, sustainable golf and greenspace for the current and evolving community to enjoy for generations to come"

The Panel's criteria to support this vision includes:

• Evaluation and evolution of the Lane Cove Golf Course

• Community inclusivity

• Safe and fair co-existence of all activities

• Proposal’s impact on broader community and wildlife

• Preserve and protect the natural environment

• Affordable to the community

• Does the community benefit outweigh the operational cost?

• Any substantial change to, or repurposing of, the site requires a detailed proposal and wide community consultation.

• Recognise that this is Cameraygal Land

• Future use should consider expanded, complementary and compatible uses of the green space in the absence of viable alternatives in local and neighbouring catchments.

The Panel's report includes a description and rationale for each of the above criteria.

The Community Panel's report was finalised and provided to Council today, Saturday 26 June 2021. 

Members of the community interested in the next steps can review the report to Council's July meeting scheduled for Monday 19 July. 

The Agenda for this meeting will be published on Thursday 15 July 2021 and can be viewed through Council's website. For details of the current arrangements for public forums at Council meetings, please visit Council's website. 

How did the Community Panel process work?

The Community Panel met on four occasions starting with a tour of the golf course and then facilitated sessions which included speakers, activities and reflections related to the group's remit. Along the way the group identified additional information they needed to help them with their deliberations. The group also exchanged information and ideas through a shared portal to connect and consider the remit in between and during sessions.

During the journey Panel members were encouraged to consider how the process was evolving and you can watch the Vox Pop video on the right to hear from panellists who were reflecting on the process at the halfway point at the end of Session 2.

Council also invited members of the public who were not part of the Panel to observe the process during each of the sessions. More than 20 people took up this opportunity and became Observers across the four sessions. 

Who is on the Panel? 

You can see from the below infographic that the Panel representation aligns with the demographics of Lane Cove: 

In April Council sent a letter to all residents introducing the Community Panel process and providing notice that some households may receive a subsequent letter inviting them to express interest in being on the Panel. To make sure the selection process for the Panel was fully independent, Sortition Foundation was engaged to recruit a sample of individuals to match the broad demographics of the Lane Cove community. There was a terrific take up response from those invited to participate and the final members were then randomly selected. Council was not involved in the selection of individual panel members and was only introduced to the Panel at the first session.

Background to the establishment of a Community Panel

Over the past decade, Council has been exploring ways and means of meeting the sport, recreation, health and lifestyle needs of current and future residents.

Last year the community was asked to provide feedback on concept plans for a new Sport and Recreation Precinct on the curtilage of the current Lane Cove Golf Course.

The proposed facility includes indoor multi-sport courts, outdoor courts, a stage, program space, cafe and restaurant and car park. In response to positive feedback, Council agreed to continue with plans for this facility which sits on the land at the edge of the golf course, predominantly the current car park, clubhouse, tennis courts etc.

As part of that consultation process, Council had also proposed future options for the golf course including a driving range, putt-putt golf and the retention of a nine-hole golf course. In response, the community asked Council to consider all options for use of the open space at the golf course.

The golf course is the largest open space in the Lane Cove Council area, making the decision about its future use an important one. To help understand the community's views on the best use of the outdoor areas on the site to meet our community needs now and into the future, Council decided to pursue a 'deliberative democracy' process whereby a Community Panel was formed to deliberate about any future options for the use of the golf course.

What is a Community Panel?

A Community Panel is made up of an autonomous and independent group of everyday people who, similar to a court jury system, consider information and then reach a decision. The process is based on the International Association for Public Participation Australasia (IAP2A) framework which classifies this method as involve, a higher order of consultation than inform or consult, Council’s standard consultation approach. Mosaic Labs in facilitating the panel, ensure compliance with IAP2 Quality Assurance Standards.