Macarthur needs an advisory committee, but make it a good one

A lot of successful cities both here and overseas use an advisory committee to give them an edge.

These committees are usually made up of local people who are experts in their field, from business to politics and media and the law.

What’s particularly interesting is that those on such high calibre committees are not asked to apply or nominate themselves for a seat at the table.

No – they are invited to be on such a committee, and it’s up to them to decide if they have the time to make a contribution.

This is where a lot of committees set up in the usual local council way – people having to apply to be on them – rarely make much of an impact.

It’s obvious that a handpicked advisory committee of experienced local people who are invited to be involved will be more successful in providing really smart advice.

And it should not be that difficult to find enough capable local people to serve on such a committee.

Say for example you were setting up a Macarthur advisory committee to help local councils work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for the region as a whole.

You can identify a range of challenges, from jobs, transport, the environment, sport and entertainment infrastructure among others, and choose your committee members along those lines

With the federal and state governments set to play a key role in the growth of Macarthur over the next 20 years, local federal and state MPs would be the first people on such a committee.

There would be industry and business representatives as well as a couple of proactive community advocates on the advisory committee.

A south west Sydney council a few years ago set up a similar committee, except it stacked it with way too many outsiders.

Sure, these outsiders were well known and you could describe them as being influential.

But this committee was doomed to fail from the start, and who could blame these outsiders for losing interest in making the long trek from their Sydney bases for regular meetings.

So no outsiders, including people who may have grown up locally but have moved on from the local area.

It should not be that hard for our local councils to come together and pool their resources to produce a list of people for an advisory committee that could provide the X factor for our growing region.

And while this would be especially helpful during massive population growth, such a committee could be adapted later to continue to play a key role in the success of our region.