EPA on the road listening to councils and licensees
Our Roadshows at the start of this year provided an opportunity for our CEO and Executive to meet face to face with stakeholders, listen to their concerns and discuss local environmental matters. We held our first Roadshows in February and March and will be hosting our next round later this year.
The EPA road shows took place across the state
During February and March, we connected face to face with close to 500 of our council and licensee stakeholders in locations across NSW.
The Roadshow forums focused primarily on listening to stakeholders, with a key part of the proceedings being an open floor question and answer session where attendees could ask our Executive panel any questions they wanted. It was also an opportunity for us to outline our key regulatory priorities, gain feedback on our draft Regulatory Strategy and discuss local environmental topics.
The first of the 23 forums saw us at Tamworth and Coffs Harbour in the state’s north followed by Wollongong, Lithgow and Botany Bay, central Sydney, Merimbula and Broken Hill. Our final locations were Wagga, Parramatta, the Hunter and Dubbo.
“The EPA is working to be a world class regulator, and our engagement with stakeholders is critical to this. We are striving to increase opportunities for more two-way communication,” CEO Tracy Mackey said.
Workshop at the Coffs Harbour forum
What we heard
Key themes coming from the sessions, included
- The need for consistency and co-ordination between NSW government agencies and better explanation on the EPA’s role in the planning process;
- councils seeking more support, capability building and engagement from the EPA,
- licensees wanting a more collaborative approach to help them achieve best practice, and earlier engagement from the EPA, before things go wrong
- both councils and licensees want access to clear frameworks to enable better planning and innovation.
Overall, the EPA’s responsiveness was discussed, with the Executive committing to improvements in timeliness and more transparency around expectations and progress.
What’s next?
While this round of forums was targeted to councils and licensees, we are committed to increasing our conversations with all our stakeholders including community, business and government. We will be expanding our Roadshows and opening them to our whole regulated community and other stakeholders later this year. Stay tuned for more information on how you can participate.
EPA Charter of Engagement and Stakeholder Survey Report
The EPA has committed to a charter that outlines our commitment to how we will engage with stakeholders and the community. This builds on our work through the Roadshows and in response to the recent stakeholder survey to ensure our engagement meets the service delivery expected of a world class regulator.
Under the charter we are
- placing people at the centre of our thinking,
- prioritising positive behaviour change,
- being clear and genuine when we interact with people,
- making it easier for you to engage with us,
- service oriented,
- communicating with, not to people, starting with listening,
- we are outcomes focused and have a learning mindset
Thank you to everyone who took part in our 2020 Stakeholder Survey. Read about we heard from you and how we are responding.