Toronto – Creating a place for people
PHASE FOUR: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY SEPTEMBER 2020
Introduction Council wants to make the Toronto foreshore a more inviting place for people by improving access and amenities and creating enticing destination points along the waterfront precinct from Goffet Park to Bath Street. The most recent phase of this project sought feedback on a proposal for a lakeside precinct off Bath Street, Toronto. A new small-scale building is proposed for the space providing opportunities for casual lakeside dining, boutique functions and pop-up community events. Taking inspiration from its scenic lakeside location and adjacent 5ha of foreshore, the proposed precinct will feature indoor and outdoor dining opportunities, as well as pedestrian access improvements and new car parking. There is also an opportunity for a complementary small business such as kayak, bike or boat hire. Council undertook multi-faceted engagement between 6-24 August 2020 for this project to inform and consult with residents, workers, businesses and visitors to ensure they had opportunities to provide feedback. The engagement consisted of several elements with a survey at its core.
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LAKE MACQUARIE CITY COUNCIL
THE ENGAGEMENT ELEMENTS WERE:
envelope MICROPHONE-ALT Laptop Mouse
newsletter mailed to 7000+ property owners and businesses in Toronto, Fassifern, Carey Bay, Coal Point, Kilaben Bay and Blackalls Park media release issued on 6 August 2020 online platforms (Shape Lake Mac) social media posts and eNewsletters
Facebook live Q&A session
map
ground stickers across a dozen high-traffic areas in Toronto
User-Friends
briefing to Toronto Foreshore Protection Group.
Consultation snapshot 102,000+
reached via local media
64,000+
reached via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
7000+
newsletter updates mailed to property owners and businesses in Toronto, Fassifern, Carey bay, Coal Point, Kilaben Bay and Blackalls Park
5000+
reached via Your City Online newsletter
3200
views of Facebook live
1900+
visits to Council’s online engagement portal Shape Lake Mac
420
survey responses received on Council’s online engagement portal Shape Lake Mac
12
ground stickers
7
questions asked to the project team on Shape Lake Mac
TORONTO - CREATING A PLACE FOR PEOPLE PHASE 4: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY
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Media summary newspaper
12 items
appeared across local media outlets (print, TV, radio and online)
Social media summary BULLHORN
64,655
poll
five posts
COMMENT
313 comments
Heart
4915
The media release received
Laptop 164 views
on Council’s website
BULLHORN MICROPHONE-ALT
reaching more than
102,000 people ABC Newcastle Newcastle Herald NBN News Newcastle Newcastle Weekly InTouch Magazine
total reach
across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram
on posts across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram
total engagement
EYE
Facebook live video was viewed mostly by women
Tablet-Alt
Featured in
aged 45-54
three enewsletter editions – Your City Online (x2) and Shape Lake Mac
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LAKE MACQUARIE CITY COUNCIL
Shape Lake Mac summary Council continues to use its engagement portal Shape Lake Mac as the main online engagement mechanism for this project. The Shape Lake Mac page consisted of:
file-alt
map
Survey
Project timeline
Check-Circle
book
Q&A
Document library
Calendar-Alt
Question-circle
Key dates
FAQs
TORONTO - CREATING A PLACE FOR PEOPLE PHASE 4: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY
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DATA AND INSIGHTS The survey asked the community to reflect on the proposal and benefits it could deliver Toronto and western Lake Macquarie, and identify how supportive they were of the proposal. Overall, there were 420 responses to this question. 323 respondents were either strongly supportive (208) or supportive (115) of the proposal. This accounted for 77 per cent of responses.
32 208
37
323
28
strongly supportive supportive neutral
supportive
105
unsupportive strongly unsupportive
Respondents also had the opportunity to provide further comments on the proposal, should they wish. Text analysis identified that of these comments, 52 per cent are positive, 30 per cent neutral and 18 per cent negative.
18% positive
52%
neutral
30%
6
negative
LAKE MACQUARIE CITY COUNCIL
SUMMARY OF COMMENTS RECEIVED FOR SMALL-SCALE BUILDING PROPOSAL Of the 420 people who completed the survey, 331 respondents provided comments. These comments were grouped into ten themes. Several survey responses contained more than one key theme. THEME
NUMBER OF COMMENTS
Foreshore Master Plan More than one hundred responses provided feedback related to the development of the foreshore master plan. This included ideas relating to heritage interpretation, accessibility for boating and fishing, and connectivity along the foreshore.
130
Community Land Respondents identified they would like to see the parcel of land changed from Operational land to Community land.
64
Supportive Respondents reaffirmed their selection of support for the proposal in the comment section
42
Lack of information Respondents believed the proposal lacked detail to provide a more informed comment.
33
Oversupply of cafes Comments mentioned there may be an oversupply of cafes in the area. Some respondents identified a unique dining experience would be more suitable.
27
Parking Several respondents identified the importance of parking for the area, particularly that the current site is utilised for overflow parking from the town centre and Royal Motor Yacht Club.
20
Increased tourism and employment It was identified by respondents that the proposal would increase tourism and employment opportunities for the area. Some respondents would like to see the encouragement of active transport within the proposal.
16
Leave as open space Some respondents identified they would like the area left as parkland
14
Accessible to public Respondents were pleased the proposal of the small-scale building was accessible for the public.
13
Preferred original development plan Some responses identified that they preferred the original development proposal
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“I love the opportunity the development provides to increase and improve public use of this space.”
“This proposal is a positive outcome for Toronto. With the popularity of coffee shops/cafes and outdoor dining it can only enhance the foreshore and be a welcome community asset. The extra green space is most welcome as is the car parking.”
“I’d need to see some visuals before I can comment, but it certainly sounds better than the previous proposal of a 5-storey building.” “Do not build on. Keep it as a vacant foreshore land for community use.”
COPY OF ONLINE SURVEY
“Toronto has been screaming out for some good development around the foreshore for a long time. Cafes and restaurants could change the area for the good and is a long overdue benefit the area needs.”
“The Bath Street site and adjacent operational land should be reclassified and rezoned as Community land, and should be permanently protected. We would support compliant businesses such as cafes etc to lease small areas of the community land”.
TORONTO - CREATING A PLACE FOR PEOPLE PHASE 4: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY
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TV lakemac.com.au