Readers of The Courier are likely to favour the latter. At a federal level, however, that can be hard. Lawmaking in Canberra can seem far distant from our everyday lives - and there are few opportunities to buttonhole the prime minister and tell him your views on the latest bill.

That is different at a local level. A lot of residents and readers are likely to bump into their councillors in the supermarket, see them on a stroll around Lake Wendouree or bump into the CEO at a local cafe.

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They say local politics is the tier of government closest to the people - and there is a lot of truth in that.

How then do you let you let your views and ideas known if it is not in the vegetable aisle or along the Steve Moneghetti track?

The reality is the best time to air your ideas and shape what you think the council's priorities should be over the next few years is right now.

If you keep track of council business, you will see there is a big push to get feedback for a four-year council plan, budgets and long-terms vision.

Outgoing CEO Janet Dore described the council plan as "the best opportunity communities have ever had" due to changes in the local government act which require "deliberative engagement".

"That's just not a consultation tickbox - it's having a discussion, having a meaningful discussion, sorting through priorities," Ms Dore said. "It's so exciting if it ends up with a clear understanding of what will be delivered, when and how it will be funded."

Every new council puts out a four-year plan at the start of their time in office. This is the defining document of their term. If a project is named in this, it has much more chance of getting done. Works on community hubs at Ballarat North and Lucas, playspaces at MR Power Park in Sebastopol, works at the City Oval were all mentioned in the 2017-21 plan - and all were carried out.

Note this is mostly big picture stuff. Now is not the time to complain about the pothole on your road, or wonder why your bins got missed - but to indicate how high up you rank road renewals and rubbish collection among the services the City of Ballarat delivers. This is the time for you to explain where you would most like ratepayer money to go over the next few years.

Residents do also get the chance to comment on the yearly budgets, but for the most part this is academic. Feedback may highlight discrepancies or technical flaws in the budget but is unlikely to change the direction of council. That is what is being shaped over the next few months, with these plans.

Whether through a survey or face-to-face, you can share your views on more than 100 services from rubbish collection to childcare.

In a growth zone and worried about infrastructure: make yourself heard. If you use a council service beyond rubbish collection - and most residents do - from libraries to meals on wheels, and find it valuable, then let them know. Is enough funding pumped into active transport? Want more done on the environment?

Sporting facilities? Financially minded? Spare a moment to consider whether council be borrowing more to fund recovery - perhaps on big projects other levels of government ignore, such as the all-waste interchange and the next stages of the Ballarat Link Road? Or tightening belts to focus on just a few key projects?

If you can bring yourself to sift through recent budgets, see where the money goes. Is the balance right? If you lose sleep over global warming and want the council to make sure it is doing absolutely all it can, let them know. Would you like to see your food waste collected? A hard waste collection? The list goes on.

The same applies if you are in a sports club that needs an upgrade, a community group that needs more facilities or council help, a local resident with a vision for how to bring the community together - or even an entrepreneur with an idea that could boost the city's economy.

More than a million dollars is included in the City of Ballarat budget each year for advocacy - that is lobbying on your behalf for funds from state and federal governments. What do you believe should be a priority? Waste management? A link road? The circular economy? Tighter building restrictions? More money to develop sites such as Bakery Hill, and the old saleyards for example? The airport? It could be anything.

It helps if you are organised and other people share the same concerns or vision. Having costs reliably mapped out and a clear community benefit is also likely to support your cause.

The Courier has heard anecdotal feedback of sports associations paying consultants to map out a business case for funding and the community benefit. While those costs may be prohibitive for some community groups, the same principle applies: if an idea has been thought through, scoped out and is demonstrably something the community will benefit from, you are likely to gain attention.

Feedback ends on February 28 - a little over two weeks away. If you are going to talk to your councillors - and let them know as your elected representatives what you expect from them over the next few years - now is the time.There are several opportunities to put your views across. Three separate surveys of different lengths are online (see below).

There are also times you can meet councillors and council officers.

February 16 (4.30pm-6pm): Brown Hill - Brown Hill Recreation Reserve; Miners Rest - Miners Rest Community Park; Delacombe - Doug Dean Reserve

23 February 2021 4.30pm-6pm: Eureka - Eureka Gardens; Alfredton - Alfredton Recreation Reserve; Buninyong - De Soza Park.

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