Final meeting of citizens' council in sight
March 29 is the final meeting of the citizens' council. During four meetings over the past few weeks, 136 members of the public who had been invited prepared opinions on the theme of livability. In groups, they focused on different subtopics such as safety and communication. This Saturday they will present their advice and then vote on which advice to include in their Citizen's Advice. During this final meeting, the mayor will adopt the Citizens' Advice and share it with the City Council. At the City Council meeting on April 16, they will decide which recommendations the council can work with.
Mayor Roel Wever:
"I have followed the citizen consultation process and I am impressed with the involvement and expertise of our residents. I look forward to seeing how we, as a municipality, will put the advice into practice.'
Successful meetings
Between the kick-off meeting on Jan. 11 and the final meeting on March 29, there were three successful meetings. Participants talked about their own on the various subtopics. In addition to the conversations among themselves, the participants engaged in discussions with inspirers that they themselves provided. The inspirers were experts from different sectors e.g. an external building consultant, the Heerlen-Centrum district police officer, officials dealing with public space, communication or safety and a specialist in the field of neighborhood initiatives. They gained new insights on the subtopics that they took with them when formulating their opinions.
Maria Abd Almuti, citizen council participant: 'I really thought the citizen council was a wonderful initiative! It was beautiful to see how people from different neighborhoods, backgrounds and ages came together and how everyone's voice was sincerely listened to.'
The opinions
The citizens' council is divided into 12 working groups. Each working group gives advice on one subtopic such as belonging and loneliness, safety, help demand, facilities and public space. Each working group gives one advice that can consist of five decision points. Next Saturday, the various groups will present these opinions to all participants and to a number of panels. These panels consist of a number of council members and Heerlen residents. Then there will be a voting round and the participants will decide which advice they will include in the Citizens' Advice. Mayor Roel Wever , for the city council, will adopt the Citizens' Advice at the final meeting.
The sequel
The recommendations are on the agenda for the April 16 council meeting. The intention is to start implementing the recommendations this year. Some of the participants of the citizens' council will form a monitoring / sounding board group and follow the process around following and implementing the advices.