Maleny Forums launches

A new conversation launches in Maleny

By Greg Brown

Some of the organising committee members Barry Smith, Sheila Brydon, Claire Booth and Spencer Shaw

No one can say Maleny is a place where community complacency is the accepted norm or where the locals are happy to just sit back and let things happen.

Maleny is a place where people are passionate,upfront, vocal and, occasionally, notoriously defiant.

Maleny is famously the place where cooperatives flourish, where there are more community groups than just about anywhere else (160 and counting) and where a diversity of opinion abounds.

Yet, in a modern world of swirling social media, blinkered attitudes, parochial values and slick ‘consultative processes’, opportunities for meaningful, respectful and reflective community exchanges can be lost.

Real conversations are about issues that deeply impact on the very fabric of what gives a place – like Maleny – its unique character and a sustainable longevity.

This malaise had been plaguing Maleny local Roger Westcott for a while, until around 18 months ago he approached Barry Smith from the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre about an idea he was hatching.

Over time, a small group of passionate Maleny locals met, investigated options and talked about how local community engagement could be improved, culminating in a public meeting held last Wednesday evening at the Maleny Community Centre.

Attended by around 60 enthusiastic locals, the meeting explained and explored the proposed manner of community engagement.

Barry explained that although there are the 160-odd community groups and organisations in Maleny, nearly all were membership-based and issue or interest specific.

“If an outsider to the group wants to contribute on one specific issue, they have to join up as a member to have a say,” he said.

“Often, that may be purely therapeutic, where you get your frustrations off your chest but then how do you actually make any change happen as a consequence?”

Barry explained to the meeting that after investigating a range of community engagement systems, one involving a forum approach gave the best overall outcomes.

“Village associations, like the one in Montville, perform well for their purpose but Maleny doesn’t need another ‘group’,” Barry said. “

We recognise that we need a model where important issues can be discussed and debated - where everyone has an opportunity to participate and contribute.

“This approach we’ve termed Maleny Forums.”

The Maleny Forums model that has been proposed is based on a respectful and inclusive approach to gathering, sharing and discussing information on an issue, leading to decisions and actions.

The outcomes will be driven by working groups formed as part of the forum, which will then champion the results in whatever ways are identified as appropriate.

Maleny Forums will not be characterised by formal membership. There will not be a constitution and any form of incorporation. There will not be elections and involvement is purely voluntary and non-political. Maleny Forums will not claim to be representing or speaking for the whole of Maleny.

After a period of discussion on the night, with some fleshing out of some of the concepts the model is based on, the meeting resoundingly gave their approval for the Maleny Forums approach.

One of the meeting organisers, Claire Booth, was keen to encourage others to come forward to be part of the organising committee.

“We’ll now work towards having a forum up and running in the not too distant future on an important issue raised through this meeting,” Claire said.

“This has been a great vote of confidence. Now we can find a positive way forward to having a constructive say in the future of our community.”