Long term plan submissions include Bart attack

A record number of submissions have been made on Hamilton City Council’s long term plan – including one from ‘‘Bart’’ who apparently claims to represent ‘‘My butt’’.

The council’s campaign to capture Hamiltonians’ views is the most successful the council has ever run, with 5674 submissions received – a 159 per cent increase on the 2190 received on the previous long term plan in 2018.

While the total seems to reflect a triumph of public relations, the spectre of a proposed 8.9 per cent rates increase this year may have spurred many to share their views. While a breakdown of the submissions and the general list of main concerns is yet to be collated by council staff, the full list can be found in the agenda for this week’s meetings on the council’s website.

The feedback period began on March 5 and closed on April 7.

The council also received 2283 comments about the plan through its social media channels. The campaign also initiated the use of an artificial intelligence chatbot to capture feedback, which generated 191 responses.

The themes of these comments and responses will also be made available to councillors to help guide their decision-making in a series of meetings.

The next chapter in the process is in-person presentations to the council by at least 300 of the submitters, which will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Tuesday next week. Among those addressing the council will be some high-profile citizens, including MP Jamie Strange, former MP Tim Macindoe, and business leader John Gallagher.

There will also be representations from many of the city’s various advocacy and lobby groups.

These ‘usual suspects’ include the likes of Sport Waikato, the Hamilton Residents and Ratepayers Association, Friends of the Waikato Museum of Art and History, the Hamilton Central Business Association and the Waikato Chamber of

Commerce.

But there are some less usual suspects as well. On the list of verbal submitters is someone named only as ‘‘Bart’’ who – at least according to the council’s agenda – represents ‘‘My butt’’.

Bart’s submission was more succinct than many received by the council, but among the views he expressed on the council’s submission form was a desire to make housing more affordable for young people and planting more native trees. All the submissions will be considered during the deliberations on the plan and the draft revenue and financing policy during a further series of meetings from May 4 to 6.

It is at that part of the process that the numbers will be crunched and the average rates rise for the 2021/22 year and subsequent years will be worked out. The projected 8.9 per cent increase could rise or fall, depending on the decisions made around the council table.

Mayor Paula Southgate applauded the citizens for their participation in the process, and thanked the council’s staff for their efforts in letting Hamiltonians know what the issues were.

Consultation has also closed on proposed changes to the council’s revenue and financing policy, development contributions policy and growth funding policy, which received 41, 62 and 19 submissions respectively.