Northlanders keen to have say on plan

Close to 3000 submissions have been received by Whanga¯ rei District Council on its 2021-31 Long Term Plan (LTP).

The response was a large increase on the 653 submissions and two petitions received during the 2018-2028 LTP stage.

WDC general manager strategy and democracy Dominic Kula said it was “awesome to see people caring about what we do and having a say in Whanga¯ rei’s future”.

Around 2969 submissions were put before council from members of the public, organisations, groups and businesses.

And over the course of two and a half days council heard 125 submitters speak at the LTP 2021-24 public submissions and hearings meetings that began on April 13.

There was genuine interest regarding many of Whanga¯ rei’s key issues, including transport, climate change, investment in event facilities, and the city centre.

“The amount of feedback we received tells us there’s a good proportion of our community who have some really clear ideas about what they’d like to see happen in our district over the next 10 years, which is great news for Whanga¯ rei,” Kula said.

Cat control was a hot topic, with 1008 bulk submissions received, followed by the Ruakā kā Community Centre with 970 submissions.

Bulk submissions are when the same submission has been put forth by multiple people or groups.

Submissions reflected the diversity of community interests.

“We tried some new things this year to connect with people who don’t traditionally get involved in this process and it was fantastic to have these conversations with a much wider cross-section of our community,” Kula said.

More than 3000 attended WDC’s Family Fun Day at Pohe Island on March 27, an opportunity for people to learn more about the next LTP.

WDC also held 15 public meetings, including a hui with Nga Hapu¯ o Whangā rei at Terenga Parā oa Marae.

Council’s deadline for the proposed adoption of the LTP 2021-31 is June 24.