First Citizens’ Jury meeting a success
Members of the Eurobodalla Citizens’ Jury were revealed to the public and to each other on Saturday at the Jury’s first meeting, held in Tuross Head.
The 28 jurors were randomly selected to represent everyday people and include school teachers, a nurse, an engineer, university students, a legal practitioner, parents, grandparents, volunteers and retirees.
The meeting was open to observers and a number of residents took the opportunity throughout the day to see who their peers were on the Jury and to hear the initial discussions.
Council’s General Manager Dr Catherine Dale declared the first meeting a success.
“The jurors put in a long day and took in a lot of important information,” she said. “They have a big responsibility and they are taking their role seriously, as you’d expect.
“If people are curious about the jurors and the process they are very welcome to come along and observe the remaining five meetings during October and November,” Dr Dale said.
The jurors heard from seven speakers on Saturday, who made presentations about issues raised by the community during the Citizens’ Jury information sessions in August. These topics were environment and sustainability, youth issues, Indigenous issues, governance, tourism, and recreation.
newDemocracy Foundation, the not-for- profit research organisation facilitating the Citizens’ Jury, were similarly pleased with the first meeting.
“The Jury is an incredibly diverse, incredibly enthusiastic group of people and they’ve sunk their teeth into the task really quickly. They’ve already started to see the complexities and challenges of the task and started to pick out some inputs they think will be important to their deliberations. We couldn’t have asked for a stronger start to the process,” said newDemocracy Foundation Program Manager Georgina Inwood.
The next Eurobodalla Citizens’ Jury meetings will be held on 12 October in Broulee, 26 October in Moruya, 9 November in Bodalla, 19 November in Tuross Head, and 23 November in Tomakin. Time and venue details can be found at www.esc.nsw.gov.au under Citizens’ Jury.
An important part of this Citizens’ Jury process is the opportunity for individuals, community organisations and other locally based organisations or interested bodies to make submissions to the Jury.
Residents who would like to raise an issue with the Citizens’ Jury can make a written submission until 3 October. Information about how to do this can also be found on Council’s website. Visit the frequently asked questions page at http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/inside-council/community-and-future-planning/citizens-jury
Another way for the community to participate in the process is to use Council’s online engagement hub www.yoursay.esc.nsw.gov.au to get involved in the discussion, access the same documents and submissions as the Jury, and stay up to date with the process. Media Release
