Dr Marisa Paterson MLA, Labor backbencher and Member for Murrumbidgee, will host a series of ‘Neighbourhood Chats’ in coming weeks in Woden Valley, Weston Creek, and the Molonglo Valley.

“I’ve been in this role for over 18 months now, and I feel like I’m getting a good feel for a broad range of community issues and for understanding what’s important to the local community,” Dr Paterson said.

“But I want to take this opportunity to reach more people, and really understand what they want from their local member.

“I want to co-design a plan to develop a greater understanding of what people want to see in our community, to understand how I can strengthen my representation, and to draw out an understanding of how I can better communicate with the local community as their local member.”

Dr Paterson said the conversations would be professionally facilitated.

“During these fun and collaborative sessions, we’ll be asking nine questions in 90 minutes that will draw out participants’ ideas about how we can better work together.”

Dr Paterson encourages all community members to come along, for what will be a great opportunity to share ideas about working together for public good and community outcomes.

She particularly encourages people who don’t normally attend community consultation or engagement forums to attend.

Dr Paterson said: “The facilitators will bring a new way of framing issues and communication to draw out innovative ways I can better represent my community and how we can work together to achieve the best outcomes for Murrumbidgee residents.”

The sessions will be held:

• Tuesday 14 June, 7:00-8:30pm – Woden Valley: Hughes Community Hall, 2 Wisdom Street, Hughes

• Thursday 16 June, 7:00-8:30pm – Molonglo Valley: Denman Village Community Centre

• Tuesday 21 June, 7:30-9:00pm – Weston Creek: Weston Neighbourhood Hall, 6 Gritten Street, Weston

For further information, and to RSVP for one of the sessions: https://marisapaterson.com.au/issues/community-building/neighbourhood-chats/