A panel of randomly selected Wollongong citizens will play a pivotal role in deciding which council services should be cut or saved and whether the city should implement an extra rate rise.
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Wollongong City Council yesterday announced the core components of its public engagement strategy to help decide how to make the organisation more financially sustainable.
General manager David Farmer first flagged concerns about the council's bottom line in May, saying "nothing was off the agenda" to fix a $20-million annual shortfall in maintaining council assets.
Mr Farmer announced plans to begin an extensive public consultation process to decide which services were most valued, where the council could operate more efficiently and whether residents would support a rate rise above the statewide 3.4 per cent.
At the heart of the wide-ranging strategy is a citizens' panel, members of which will be selected by an independent market research firm, to suggest the best way to improve the council's finances.
Residents cannot nominate for the panel but will be chosen at random during the next two weeks.
Market researchers will select about 25 to 40 people from differing age groups, genders and suburbs, and panel members must be available to attending briefings at the end of this month, as well as at least two intensive workshops.
Mr Farmer said this type of community consultation was considered to be "best practice" and was designed to ensure "interested parties and sectional interest groups" did not dominate discussions.
The engagement strategy will also include public submissions, online forums and workshops with councillors and staff.
The panel's creation has alarmed members of resident group Save Our Services, which formed after Mr Farmer first raised concerns.
Group spokesman Stephen Spencer, who addressed councillors at Monday's meeting, said he was worried the panel would unfairly set the agenda for the rest of the consultation process.
"We believe this panel, while set up by this third-party consultant ... would presumably receive input from council staff by way of information or suggestions," he said.
"Further to that, our concern is that once the panel has come to some conclusion, those recommendations will be regarded as the community's viewpoint when the panel itself has had no direct link with any part of the community.
"So while other groups will be given the chance to say something, we will not have the weight that this panel has."
However, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said there were no preconceived notions about what the panel would decide.
"No decisions have been made," Cr Bradbery said.
"This is a conversation we want to have with the community ... and the process is very transparent."
The council will place community information packs about its financial review online in coming weeks.
