We worked with the community and stakeholders to transform the Acton Waterfront into a place for all Canberrans to enjoy.
Building on a journey of almost two decades, Communication Link delivered consultation to ensure the community and key stakeholders could share their views on a new park in Acton and future developments.
The 2022 Communication and Engagement Plan considered previous consultation and engagement in the area, focused on ensuring the community and key stakeholders were easily able to access clear information and provide feedback, as well as mitigating any risks or sensitivities.
Consultation was also used to consider how other key ACT Government projects will impact the area, including the Light Rail and the raising of London Circuit.
This project recognised the importance of respecting and celebrating the rich First Nations history and cultural significance of the area, with the opportunity to welcome new visitors to Country and educate visitors in Ngunnawal language. Partnering with Indigenous Consultants, Yerrabingin, and grounding all initiatives to care for the land, respect for the lake and the lakeshore landscape, we embedded First Nations principles as the foundations to the project.
Together we delivered an approach for collaborative design with the Dhawura Ngunnawal Caring for Country Committee and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body to create the Acton Waterfront Estate's Connecting with Country design narratives. This included the development of a Caring for Country overlay to the Project Master Plan, which shows how the principles are activated throughout the project.
Engagement with the broader Canberra community included YourSay, online and in person community workshops, pop-in sessions and focus groups.
The role of community engagement was to contribute to the design of the Acton Waterfront and the vision for activating the precinct, mainly though their contributions to the park design and estate planning. Engagement with government stakeholders was targeted through workshops and presentations at key milestones.
Throughout the consultation period, a total of 168 participants engaged with the project. This generated a total of 732 data points. The top three key themes that were discussed throughout the consultation were roads and public transport, vegetation and green spaces and city planning, infrastructure and maintenance. These insights will feed into final designs for the park and future estate planning