Dubbo Regional Council environment and planning director Melissa Watkins welcomed the input of the community towards building the 2040 Community Strategic Plan.

“Already, we have collected over 450 short surveys asking people what they like most and what needs to improve about their community,” Ms Watkins said on Wednesday.

“This is in addition to the information collected from 14 workshops with the community, workshops with specific industry sectors and the four community summits we have held.

“However, a Community Strategic Plan relies on input from a very wide range of individuals, community groups and other agencies and stakeholders to be a true community plan.”

The draft 2040 Community Strategic Plan will build on the Dubbo 2036 and Wellington 2025 Community Strategic Plans adopted by the previous councils and use the new information and ideas collected from the community.

“A long-term community strategic plan is pivotal to future decision making so it is important that a draft Plan which considers community ideas is available for the new council to review,” Ms Watkins said.

The consultation period ran from June 13 to July 14.

All the information provided by the community will be included in a new draft 2040 Community Strategic Plan, which will be reviewed by the councillors after the election in September.

In Dubbo after the first weeks of consultation, the council reported community feedback included the desire to utilise the Macquarie River corridor more, provision of tourist lookouts, the importance of long term infrastructure planning and the impact of the third river crossing, the need for further specialist medical services and facilities and the need for affordable housing.