Highlands Regional Council Corporate Plan (2017-2022)

Portfolio task
This assessment is in two parts:
1. Rewrite a section of text using plain writing principles. A section of text from a Government report is at the end of this task description part. You are to rewrite the text in accordance with plain writing principles to improve its clarity for an average reader. (10%)
2. Write a 1000-word background paper based on the following scenario (20%):
You work for the communications department of a large publicly-listed company that operates a significant customer-facing website. Your manager is frustrated at the unnecessarily complex writing that your colleagues are submitting for publication. She asks you to write a 1000-word background paper on the Plain Language movement to be given to your colleagues, and she provides you with a folder of relevant information (included on Blackboard). You are welcome to find additional resources but the emphasis on the paper is the writing, not the research. Your paper should include:
• A brief introduction to Plain Language
• Historical background to the campaign for Plain Language use
• The benefits to business from using Plain Language
• The benefits to government from using Plain Language
• A brief conclusion
Include a Works Cited section (word count does not go towards the 1000-word total) using MLA 8 referencing style.
Format: The two pieces of writing should be saved in the one document (1. Rewrite; 2. Background paper). The document should use 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, with the student name, student number and page number in the footer. Use headings where appropriate. There is no need for a cover sheet.
The first part of the text that needs to be rewritten:
Highlands Regional Council Corporate Plan, 2017-2022
Over the coming years, the Highlands Region community is set to continue to keep on growing and evolving, and will face significant changes. Change is inevitable, whether it is a growing and more diverse population, increases or decreases in economic activity that could go up or down, new infrastructure challenges or simply the community’s changing expectations. Any one of these could significantly effect the lifestyle of the Region’s residents, in the fullness of time and with full foresight, Council wants to ensure our organisation, and the community, is proactive in the culmination of planning for the future, creating a Region that is admired for its strength, resilience and ability to embrace and benefit from change, moving forward.
Highlands Regional Council’s Corporate Plan 2017 - 2022 sets the strategic direction and priorities for our organisation for the next five financial years. It identifies expectations that the community desires within the Region, and outlines what Council will do to achieve these expectations and to introduce an implementation plan. The Plan is designed around five themes, each supported by a number of outcomes that Council is committed to achieving. Community, Economy, Environment, Excellence in Service, and Local Government Leader.
Like all local governments in Queensland, Council is required to adopt a Corporate Plan every five years and pursue the achievement of the strategic objectives within the Plan. Council’s Corporate Plan themes have been crafted to align with the State Government’s Queensland Plan foundations to demonstrate that we are working together to progress our vision for the future together. The Corporate Plan is directly linked to Council’s long term strategic documents, including our annual budget and Operational Plan. Reporting on the progress of the outcomes within the Corporate Plan are conducted through the Annual Report and Operational Plan quarterly progress reports.