LESSONS FROM 20 YEARS OF COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

Community consultation is an essential component of the floodplain management process. The Floodplain Development Manual (p.6) recognises that ‘broad community involvement in the plan preparation, from the beginning, should produce the best prospect for community acceptance of, and commitment to, the resulting management plan’. But often the task of engaging communities proves difficult, and in the worst case, can create a backlash which threatens the integrity of the entire process. Sometimes a genuine commitment to community consultation is lacking. For communities with no recollection of flooding, it is often difficult to generate interest, until houses are designated flood-prone! Tensions in the community and on the Floodplain Management Committee can slow progress. In this paper we report some of the practical tips for successfully engaging the community that we have gleaned from our involvement in over 20 major floodplain risk management studies. Our suggestions cover the full gamut of community consultation activities, including committee meetings, covering letters, information sheets/newsletters, questionnaires and public meetings.