Meeting gives the council thoughts on 10-year plan

South Waikato District Council held a public meeting last Thursday regarding the proposed Long Term Plan.

About 30 people were present and a range of questions and issues were raised. Council chief executive David Hall said these included: ‘‘ Some areas not receiving a copy of the summary document (which should have been circulated with the South Waikato News).

‘‘A lot of discussion about how the council engages with the community.

‘‘ It was suggested that a community board could be created for Tokoroa (from one person).

‘‘There were several members of the Putaruru Rugby League Club present.

‘‘They were concerned about the state of the toilets and changing facilities in Glenshea Park.

‘‘The only financial issue raised concerned the apparent reduction in funding for economic development over the 10 years.

‘‘All in all, I thought that it was a very positive meeting,’’ said Mr Hall.

‘‘So far in this consultation period, submissions and queries have kept us busier than normal so early in the process,’’ council strategic policy manager Cindy Kent said.

‘‘The council has printed 71 copies of the full plan. We ran out of copies at the public meeting with staff and councillors giving their own copies away on the night.’’

The council is now open for public consultation on its long-term plan. Being a 10-year plan it has a strategic focus, looking at increasing the number of jobs in the district and promoting the district in the South Waikato and outside.

The council needs residents to let it know what they think about the draft plan; what they like about the plan and what they don’t like.

In developing the plan, the council has conducted community surveys and held workshops to fine-tune survey results but continued community feedback is a crucial part of this process.