Articulous was contracted to lead and implement a strategic engagement strategy for Toowoomba Regional Council and to carry out the community and stakeholder engagement needed to complete the study known as the Toowoomba Region Urban Form Framework, originally titled TRUFF (Toowoomba Region Urban Form Framework).
The study aimed at helping inform Toowoomba Regional Council’s new planning scheme. The study was part of council’s Toowoomba Region Futures program which aimed to prepare for growth and development in the Toowoomba region for the next 30 years.
Articulous was also contracted to produce communication materials which included presentations, fact sheets, website content, social media posts, display boards and event invitations.
Articulous worked closely with Toowoomba Regional Council planning team and the primary contractors, Ethos Urban and JensenPlus, to develop the engagement strategy and launch engagement and communications tasks and activities for the Toowoomba Design Framework for Towns and Suburbs.
As part of the work, Articulous coordinated two phases of engagement with the community and stakeholders. Over the two phases a number of engagement activities were held including community engagement sessions in Toowoomba and selected townships in the region, as well as online engagement through online surveys, social media posts, website updates and online engagement sessions.
Phase 1 – Talking Towns community consultation
Phase one focused on gathering feedback on the character definition of towns and suburbs with a combination of face-to-face and digital engagement. The feedback gathered in this phase, together with technical studies, helped draft the Toowoomba Design Framework for Towns and Suburbs.
Phase 2 – Toowoomba Design Framework for Towns and Suburbs community consultation
Phase two consisted of a more focused engagement with industry leaders, advisory groups and community members which consisted of more detailed questions on the design outcomes and guidelines being recommended in the framework. Articulous was tasked with simplifying the technical content of the draft framework, simplifying it and presenting the findings to the community and key stakeholders to gather feedback on and to discuss how these outcomes and guidelines could be implemented.
An engagement report was provided for both phases outlining the key findings from each engagement activity and the overall findings from both phases.
