Community engagement enriches our city for the better and provides a voice to people to share their opinions and needs as residents of Lake Mac.

Local government is of course the closest level of government to people and we know residents are more engaged today with council than at any other time in history. Our community expects to be consulted, particularly on local issues, and when we start a new program, community feedback is one of the first considerations.

We have a strong consultation record, and in the past few years hundreds of programs and projects have been placed on exhibition via Shape Lake Mac - council's online engagement portal. In the past 12 months there were more than 50,000 visits to the online portal and we engaged face-to-face with over 1000 people at pop-ups and workshops across a range of topics, including waste, transport, events, infrastructure and more.

I encourage everyone to jump online and visit Shape Lake Mac. There are a number of items open for comment, including designs for Pearson Street Mall in Charlestown, feedback on the development of a Master Plan for Toronto Foreshore and exhibition of updates to the Lake Macquarie Development Control Plan.

Visit shape.lakemac.com.au and share your feedback.