A community effort

A month ago I asked you to tell us what direction you think the council should take by making a submission to the longterm plan 2018-28. I’m happy to report that many of you took that opportunity, with 866 submissions received at the close of our consultation period last week.

There is much more to do before a new LTP is adopted. Firstly, many of you will speak directly to your submissions during public hearings later this month, and in May councillors will discuss what you’ve told us. The final LTP is due to be adopted on June 21.

This consultation is your one-in-three-year chance to influence the council’s direction and priorities, and this year we were determined to get as many people involved in that process as possible.

We did this by taking the consultation to you. Between March 5 and April 4 councillors and dozens of staff set up information stalls at 17 markets and public meetings from Panguru to Paihia, Kawakawa to Kaitaia. I think it’s worth mentioning that staff volunteered to attend these events. They did it in their own time, and because they wanted to. Like councillors who attended these events, staff gave up their time because they know how important the LTP process is.

Much of the LTP concerns our dayto-day work — maintaining our road network, collecting rubbish, treating water and wastewater, processing consents and licences, managing community property, providing information and distributing community grants. But there were also 13 specific projects we needed public input on due to the impact they might have on your rates, and because of the importance these projects will likely have for the community.

One example was a proposal to transfer ownership of Russell wharf to Far North Holdings.

We received 557 submissions on this issue, the most for any proposal.

We also received 281 submissions on a proposed Civic Hub for Kaikohe, 278 on a replacement cycle trail between Opua and Taumarere, and even more (295) on our longer-term cycle trail plans.

Of particular concern for residents in the north of the district were proposals for a Kaitaia sewerage scheme (244 submissions) and water supply options for Te Kao (185). Of those, 180 also told us how the Te Kao scheme should be paid for.

Many submitters also wanted to talk about issues not raised in the consultation documents. These included Maori engagement, road maintenance at Panguru, footpaths and cycle lanes, dogs and town maintenance.

We made it as easy as we could for everyone to take part in this consultation. We handed out 2000 brochures, 300 consultation documents and 500 submission forms. Easier still was our online submission process; 55 per cent of submissions were made online. So whether you spoke to us in person or went online to have your say, I want to thank everyone for making this LTP consultation one of our best.

"whether you spoke to us in person or went online to have your say, I want to thank everyone for making this LTP consultation one of our best. "