For years, until the administrators were appointed, there was much talk and debate on how to build, create and develop the city into a vibrant and cosmopolitan centre for people to live in.

However, the way forward has been muddied and darkened by lobby groups who had their own agenda or vision.

Needless to say, over the past few years, our system of governance has changed; however our city still needs to build an image and to grow.

The catchphrase used now (as it was in the past,) is that of community consultation. Community consultation has always been expounded as the answer to get the city moving.

Instead of enabling citizens to add value to council policy, community consultation has backfired, with participants feeling outraged and betrayed. Why - because most forms of community consultation tend to attract those with vested interests.

The disillusioned public generally have no incentive to participate because when they do, their voices are rarely heard.

In the past, it seemed that hierarchical institutions and developer groups-associations ensured that the gateways to decision-making were strongly guarded - only those with extraordinary influence could contribute but ordinary citizens were excluded.

The community was frequently cajoled into "having a say" - but when ordinary citizens did so, there was rarely any indication of how their views were considered in the policy development that was being proposed.

How can we move on with such a perceived divide - there needs to be a change.

There is a new social movement - deliberative democracy, which is being pioneered by cities such as Sheffield (United Kingdom) and Perth (Western Australia). There are three basic concepts - representation (and inclusion), deliberation and influence.

Representation means that consultation will include citizens regardless of their gender, age, wealth, education, race and religion.