Crunch time for comment on city vision

Rodney Local Board members are initiating an intensive community engagement plan to ensure the district’s needs are accurately reflected in the Auckland Plan.

Local board member Tracey Martin says that in addition to a special website and survey and feedback forms that will appear in libraries and service centres, community groups, representatives have been invited to 10 major meetings throughout Mahurangi and Wellsford.

She and other local representatives  - Steven Garner, June Turner and James Rolfe – are working jointly to get involvement from all sectors of the community.

“We’ll be advertising publicly so individuals can come, but we’d certainly like groups that represent a number of people to attend so we can explain how to participate in the City’s vision.”

Tracey says the board will also engage with tangata whenua, inviting Ngati Whatua and Ngati Manuhiri to Orewa.

Mataawaka (people from other wakas living in the area) will meet at Mahurangi College and Heartlands in Helensville.

Initial consultation will finish at the end of this month to allow the board to gather the information into a document to submit as part of the draft Auckland Plan. The draft plan will then be released for public submissions.

Tracey says spending the day at Auckland Unleashed (Council’s launch of its Auckland vision) emphasised how different this region is compared to other parts of the city.

“We have a good opportunity to benefit from Len Brown’s four key vision points which include one about pristine environments and another about resilient communities. I’m hoping we’ll find that we can lobby hard to keep our identity, attaching it particularly to those two visionary points and using them to create income and jobs, but under our terms.”

The board is also hoping to benefit from a partnership with Franklin that will allow the two peripheral areas to present a combined front on the importance of Auckland’s green belts.

Chairmen of the respective boards are already in discussion and once the individual draft plans are prepared it’s hoped the full boards will meet and develop a rural strategy that will “double punch” Auckland on the need to recognise and retain their special character.

Tracey says Rodney is one step ahead of other local boards as a Rodney District Council officer had the foresight to produce a document linking the district’s existing rural strategy and Long Term Community Council Plan to Auckland’s.

There are several ways to provide the board with feedback:

• Attend one of their meetings
• Get in touch with a Board member (email addresses will be on the form)
• Fill out the survey form online
• Written - the forms will also be in every library and service centre
• Phone board members

Related story: Auckland’s 30-year plan out for comment

Published March 29, 2011