Although our face-to-face engagement activities were a little restricted again this year, Have Your Say Bayside remained an important method for staying connected with you all. We published 57 new projects, which is more than we did in 2020! However, we are looking forward to resuming our face-to-face engagement activities once it is safe to do so.

Engaging during COVID-19 - How did we respond?

Despite the second COVID-19 lockdown, Council had to continue planning for the future.

We came up with some new ways to continue to enhance the engagement processes to ensure that all our residents still had the opportunity to inform Council decision making. To keep the conversation going we maximised our digital platforms, offered phone meetings, online focus groups, launched the Lunch and Learn program, Virtual Town Hall community forums and increased our social social media presence.

We understand that online engagement isn't for everyone, so we made sure that we continued to connect with people via phone, providing direct phone numbers to project managers and letter box drops where possible.

Engagement Kits


Engagement Kits are there for people who do not have access to a computer or need assistance. Engagement Kits include; project information sheet, contact details and a hard copy of the survey.

Lunch and Learn Program


To keep the community connected and informed, we offered free, daily 30 min sessions from Monday to Friday of a variety of topics of interest to the community during the lockdown period.

Our Lunch and Learn program was launched in August 2021 and continued throughout the lockdown period for 14 weeks!

Some of the sessions were recorded for those who weren't able to come along. You can find them on Bayside's YouTube channel.

Tell us what you thought about it! Click here to complete the short Lunch and Learn review survey.

Virtual Town Hall


We held 3 live Virtual Town Hall - Community Forums, with a total of over 600 people who attended.

These were arranged to update the community on the latest COVID-19 rules and restrictions and offer advice and support to the community and those who were most vulnerable or impacted by the pandemic.

Find the recordings on our Youtube page.


This year on Have Your Say...

We had over 52, 000 page views and we published 57 new projects!

There was a total of 19,000 contributors who had their say. They shared their thoughts and ideas by completing surveys, dropping pins on a map, or submitting questions and comments, reading about projects, viewing important documents and visiting our Advocacy Hub.

This year, our most popular projects were, Bayside Library Strategy, Exceptional Customer Service Strategy, Check in - opening hours at libraries, Making Our Streets Safer Bexley North and Kingsgrove and A Regional Playspace for Sir Josephs Bank Park.

Have Your Say projects summary:

These are all the projects that we published on Have Your Say between 1 December 2020 - 1 December 2021.

Project Date Visitors
Community Strategic PlanOpen December 2021
Lydham Hall Draft Conservation Management Plan27 Oct 202175
Cooling Bayside22 Oct 2021119
Exceptional Customer Service Survey22 Oct 2021877
Interchange Precinct - Rockdale Town Centre20 Oct 202193
Bayside Library Strategy15 Oct 20212.1k
Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan8 Oct 2021177
Making Our Streets Safer - Pedestrian Ramp in Botany15 Sep 202191
Public Art Policy14 Sep 2021102
Cooks River Community Values Survey7 Sep 2021814
Connecting Communities during COVID-193 Sep 2021366
Draft Bayside Pesticide Use Notification Plan16 Aug 202159
Community Safety Strategy3 Aug 20213
Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention26 Jul 2021154
Improving Parking in Mascot Precinct26 Jul 2021541
119 Robey Street Mascot - Draft Voluntary Planning Agreement14 Jul 202187
Draft Planning Proposal: Amendment 1, Walz Street and Rockdale Town Centre30 Jun 2021426
Community Waste Services28 Jun 20211.5k
Kingsgrove Rest Reserve - Playspace Renewal23 Jun 2021171
Streetscape Improvements in Rosebery9 Jun 2021146
Join Bayside's Local Planning Panel31 May 2021172
Enhancing Russell Avenue San Souci - Cycleway and Streetscape Upgrades25 May 2021397
Leo Smith Reserve - Playground Upgrade24 May 202173
Draft Councillor Expenses & Facilities Policy20 May 202129
19A Evans Avenue Eastlakes - Proposed Voluntary Planning Agreement11 May 202118
Inclusion of Controls for Dual Occupancy, Botany Bay DCP 201328 Apr 2021240
Securing Bayside's Future - Your Community Voice27 Apr 2021214
Let's Play! 5 Playground Upgrades23 Apr 2021203
Evatt Park Bexley - Exciting playground upgrade23 Apr 2021334
Shepherd Parade Reserve Bardwell Park - Exciting playground upgrade23 Apr 202167
G B Holt Reserve, Carlton - Exciting playground upgrade23 Apr 202142
Kookaburra Reserve Kingsgrove - Exciting playground upgrade23 Apr 202177
Belmore Street Reserve, Arncliffe - Exciting playground upgrade23 Apr 202160
ClubsNSW - Club Grants 202115 Apr 202126
Join the M5 East Working Party14 Apr 2021146
A Regional Playspace for Sir Joseph Banks Park!9 Apr 20211.3k
Improving Inclusion12 Mar 2021168
Exciting new playspaces!8 Mar 2021123
Haig Reserve, Daceyville - Exciting new playspace8 Mar 202150
Todd Reserve, Mascot - Exciting new playspace8 Mar 202151
Elliot Place Reserve, Hillsdale - Exiting new playspace8 Mar 202174
Making Our Streets Safer - Bexley North, Kingsgrove and Lorraine Ave (Bardwell Valley) Precincts4 Mar 2021501
Making Our Streets Safer - Bexley North and Kingsgrove4 Mar 2021641
Making Our Streets Safer - Lorraine Avenue Precinct4 Mar 2021259
Deed of Variation to VPA at 177 Russell Avenue, Dolls Point4 Mar 202168
Cahill Park - Draft Plan of Management22 Feb 2021119
Sir Joseph Banks Park - Expansion of dog park22 Feb 2021236
Margate Street Precinct Traffic Calming11 Feb 2021162
Help us shape new plans of management for our Crown Lands11 Jan 2021188
262-270 Rocky Point, Ramsgate - Proposed Voluntary Planning Agreement11 Jan 2021264
Affordable Housing Policy11 Jan 2021387
Revitalising Depena Reserve18 Dec 2020977
Exciting new playspace for Depena Reserve18 Dec 2020480
Transforming the Cafe at Depena Reserve18 Dec 2020736
Proposed Amended Draft Voluntary Planning Agreement - 128 and 130-150 Bunnerong Road, Eastgardens (Bata II)18 Dec 2020279
Community Grants 2020 / 202117 Dec 202059
Check in - Opening hours at Libraries15 Dec 20202.2k
Register Your Interest - Disability Inclusion Action Plan8 Dec 2020170
Lunch and Learn and Community Forums feedback


Thank you to everyone who engaged with us in 2021 - we look forward to hearing from you in 2022

Acknowledgement to Country

Bayside Council acknowledges the traditional custodians: the Gadigal/Bidigal people of the Eora Nation. The people of the Eora nation, their spirits and ancestors will always remain with our waterways and the land our Mother Earth.