THE opportunity to learn about how your neighbourhood could look in the future is being offered over the next year as Redland City Council develops its City Plan 2015.
History shows that a minority of people in the city will show an interest in this extensive process of consultation. This is not because of a lack of commitment to consultation by the council. Rather, it seems to be the connection people have with the plan at the time of statutory review that seems to be the problem.
As with town planning scheme reviews over the past three decades, the process is detailed and complicated and requires much effort to understand what it contains and its implications.
Most people would not take the time to discover what is it. And there lies the biggest hurdle in the town planning review process ... how to get people to understand what is possible under the plan that is adopted.
Some specific issues, such as housing density, will receive a lot of attention but most likely in broad terms, but with a city planning scheme, the devil is in the detail. Quite often that detail doesn't emerge until an assessment of a development is being made.
The reality is that people are most concerned about what is going to happen with the house next door, in front of them or behind them. They are also interested in what could happen in their street, or even their neighbourhood.
The City Plan 2015 review will bring out the activists from both the pro-development and anti-development lobbies. They will battle it out scoring points on their key messages.
This will all happen in the context of policy makers saying we should have more affordable housing, less red tape in planning, more local jobs, protection of the environment and developments that give the ''best outcome'' for the community.
The challenge for the council will be to develop a consultation plan that results in the majority of Redland residents understanding what the City Plan means to them, their street, their neighbourhood and their city.
