From my submission on the 2007 Draft Annual Plan & LTCCP Review…

Recommendations:

– That GDC undertake a substantive community consultation process over a 3-6 month period asking residents and stakeholder groups for their opinions on what the purpose, content and power of a GDC Social Policy should be.

– That the Social Policy suggested in the Statement of Proposal be discarded and after a proper process of asking the community for initial comment, a policy should be drafted for further consultation with the community and eventual adoption by GDC.Rationale:

The proposed purpose, content and power of a Social Policy has been drafted with minimal community input. If it is to be useful to GDC and the community it is established to serve, the policy needs to be developed in partnership by the community and GDC. The proposed policy is full of provocative statements, assumptions and ideological positions that are not well reasoned, supported by evidence or endorsed by the sectors of the community most affected by GDC ensuring it has a robust statement on social issues. It is important for GDC to have a Social Policy and it needs this urgently, but the process for developing such a policy should include the widest possible involvement of stakeholders and be seen as a community development opportunity in itself, ultimately resulting in a statement that has broad support and clear linkages to all aspects of the organisation.