Community Consultation for Broadstead Kilmore by Jinding
In order to continuously improve the design and development of their Broadstead Kilmore project, leading Australian developer Jinding, engaged Property Republic to conduct community consultation with current and future residents of Kilmore. With an established industry connection, the team at Jinding reached out to Property Republic’s Founder, Judi Carr, to spearhead this initiative.
Jinding understands that building spaces and communities that enhance the wellbeing of their customers not only aligns with their investment objectives, but also with their philosophy of delivering desirable communities, providing inspiration and promoting healthy living in the process.
In their mission to create a purposeful community and achieve sales success through differentiation, Jinding required community consultation and research initiatives that would deliver community-focussed and data-driven recommendations.
The Approach
Judi Carr from Property Republic and Lisa Thompson from ThinkSolve Development Solutions approached the project in three phases – Plan, Action and Report. This methodology ensured a robust approach while providing community comfort and setting a clear direction.
Plan
This first step involved speaking with Council officers who shared their knowledge on a range of topics, including how they effectively gathered data for the Shire of Mitchell Community Vision 2050. The insights gained from this discussion were used to shape the Broadstead survey, workshop, and recommendations.
Some of the discussion highlights include:
General area and site feedback
Social planning
Council community consultation
Council’s opinion on why people move to Kilmore
Council’s opinion on what makes Kilmore iconic
Action
The Action phase involved the creation and delivery of two surveys (online and in-person), and the facilitation of a Community Consultation workshop.
Surveys
One survey was built and conducted an online with two paths – one targeted to those currently living in Kilmore and another to those who are not currently living in Kilmore.
The survey recruitment was conducted through social media advertising and the display of posters in local Kilmore businesses, including Coles and Woolworths.
To capture people who didn’t see our digital and physical advertising for the online survey, a coffee consultation took place on Friday 20th May outside Oddfellows Café in the main street. Led by Judi Carr and Lisa Thompson, the consultation was done with an offer of free coffee in return for completing a paper version of the online survey. The results were included in the overall survey results.
Community Consultation Workshop
A workshop also hosted by Judi Carr and Lisa Thompson was held on Thursday 2 June 2022 at the Kilmore Racecourse. The recruitment process was done through Facebook campaigns, posters in local businesses and an email newsletter sent to a purchased database. The Community Consultation Workshop enabled the use of an evidence-based approach, through gathering valuable in-person feedback from locals.
Report
The results from the surveys, coffee consultation, and workshop were gathered and analysed to gain a deeper insight into the Kilmore community and beyond. The findings helped in understanding how the residents and non-residents of Kilmore perceive the community and what they expect from developments in the area.
In particular, the Community Consultation Workshop enabled the use of an evidence-based approach to provide the Broadstead project with a survey instrument aimed to better understand the community and test design components and public space preferences.
It also led to a deep-dive that helped Property Republic prepare a prioritised list of strategies that could inform the future design and marketing, to create an authentic community context for residents.
From the findings, five key themes emerged:
Build capacity within the community
Create civic trust
Health and wellbeing
Sustainability
Development sequencing
The Results
The Community Consultation project culminated in the creation of a comprehensive and insightful report that documented each phase in the entire process.
The research findings and key takeaways from the various exercises – surveys, consultation and workshop – were detailed and analysed to present a full picture to Jinding. This will ultimately help them form and adopt evidence-based strategies that will set them apart in their market and allow them to experience sales success.
Judi Carr also presented a summary of the key findings in person to the project team and key stakeholders.
The Feedback
“Jinding reached out to Property Republic because we wanted access to real data and insights into the local Kilmore community, that will influence Broadstead’s urban design, marketing, and community development activities.
The Property Republic team helped Jinding collect information from members of the future Broadstead community via different research methods. They identified ways that Jinding can maximise its return on investment by differentiating Broadstead from other land developments in the corridor.
The strategies employed and insights gained by Property Republic during the community consultation provided invaluable observations about the daily lives of residents living in the immediate local area, as well as options on how to build rapport with the future community.
I would recommend Property Republic to developers who need an independent advisor to confirm or adjust their beliefs about their prospective purchasers, as well as those who want to learn more about the nuances of the local community in order to provide a place where people want to live.”
Susan Pennings
Marketing Executive, Jinding