The Whakatāne District Council has signalled a different approach to its Annual Plan community consultation processes, in line with recent changes to the Local Government Act.
Since 2014, ‘formal consultation’ — which involves the production and distribution of a consultation document, a defined period for submissions and a hearing and deliberation process — has only been required if an Annual Plan contains significant or material changes to the budgets and workplan set out in the equivalent year of each council’s Long Term Plan.
An update of the proposed 2017/18 Annual Plan for the Whakatāne District received at Wednesday’s Council meeting confirmed that all budget parameters for the next financial year were well within those specified in the Long Term Plan.
“In essence, that meant there was nothing to consult about in a formal sense,” Mayor Tony Bonne says. “But Councillors were very keen to see some informal processes put in place for the community to share their ideas and concerns with us, so we’ll be working on that and looking to provide opportunities for a ‘cuppa and a chat’ in various locations around the District.
“That may well provide some inspirations for us to consider, either as part of the final annual plan, or to feed into the next Long Term Plan in 2018.”
Council elected members also acknowledged that the Whakatane Ki Mua community vision project, which involves a wide range of organisations and individuals throughout the District, is also providing valuable opportunities for communities to develop and prioritise ideas for the future. “We would encourage everyone to get involved and share their ideas about what would make their communities better places to live. Where the priorities identified relate to Council services or facilities, we will also be able to build them into our 2018-28 Long Term Plan.”
Draft budget, rating impact and indicative rating documents will be made available via the Council website, with additional feedback opportunities made available via social media platforms. All community responses received via those media will also be made available to Council elected members and the Executive team.