PLACEnews April 2010 Issue 6
Maribyrnong Stakeholder Engagement
In April 2009, the Federal and State Governments agreed that the Victorian Government’s sustainable development authority VicUrban, will develop the former Maribyrnong Defence Site following site remediation by the Commonwealth.
The 128 hectare site located just 10 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD has been closed to the public for around 100 years. It has been the source of significant indigenous, social, cultural and economic activity over the years and unlocking the site offers an opportunity to both celebrate its past, while creating future opportunities for Melbourne’s rapidly growing inner west.
With the remediation process expected to take at least three years, VicUrban is undertaking extensive stakeholder and community consultation, seeking the input of local councils, the community and key stakeholders to inform the vision, master plan and development plan for the site.
Prior to developing the consultation plan, VicUrban commissioned the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR) to conduct research with the Project’s grass-roots stakeholders.
The aims of the research were to:
• Identify stakeholder values, goals and objectives;
• Map relationships between stakeholders AND issues;
• Validate existing issues and identify ‘sleeper issues’;
• Identify unknown stakeholders;
• Inform the development of an ongoing communication and consultation plan.
To achieve this, ACCSR undertook in-depth interviews with key stakeholders nominated by VicUrban. Working with VicUrban, they applied the internationally validated Stakeholder 360® research and engagement framework. Including both quantitative and qualitative measurement and management processes, the framework provides detailed insight into an organisation’s socio-political risk, uncovers the drivers of an organisation’s social performance and reputation and provides a roadmap to build high quality stakeholder relationships.
This project resulted in some key outcomes for VicUrban. They were able to identify new and emerging stakeholders and strengthen existing relationships to inform the development of a robust consultation plan.
The consultation plan will have three phases:
o phase one commenced in October 2009 seeking input into the development of a Shared Vision for the site. The Draft Shared Vision is currently out for further consultation, and is expected to be finalised in 2010.
o phase two will provide further opportunities for input into the development of the master plan for the project
o phase three will involve consultation on the development plan for the project.
Construction on the Maribyrnong Defence Site is not expected to commence until after 2014.
