My Account
The draft Rodney Local Board Plan, the board’s strategy for directing its spending and actions over the next three years, will be open for public feedback from July 13 to August 14.
Chair Brent Bailey said this new plan had been put together during a particularly trying time for everyone and the region was facing many issues.
While local boards could now make more decisions about services and facilities in their area, the cost of living and providing services had risen and spending priorities were under intense scrutiny.
“From the beginning of this term, we have faced difficult challenges as extreme weather events wreaked havoc on the area, the financial pressures in council have increased and now the looming economic recession. We know that communities are struggling,” he said in the plan’s introduction.
Bailey said as a result, the draft plan was focusing more on keeping things local, from improving disaster preparedness and building community resilience to greater local procurement, as well as looking at different ways to deliver services.
He urged people to look at and have their say on the plan, so the local board could deliver what communities wanted and needed.
“We know that you are time poor, life seems to be getting busier and challenges more complex. We therefore appreciate all feedback you can provide us with so we can support and deliver what you need to get the most out of the next three years.”
The draft Rodney Local Board Plan 2023 has been developed considering previous community feedback, including on council’s Annual Budget 2023/2024, as well as advice from various council departments. It focuses on five key areas – people, environment, community, places and the economy.
The plan can be read and feedback submitted online, and there will be two public Have Your Say events – one at the local board’s Kumeū meeting room, next to the library, on Wednesday, July 26 from 4pm to 6pm, and the other at the Rodney Local Board office at 3 Elizabeth Street, Warkworth on Wednesday, August 9 between 4pm and 6pm.
There will be other community engagement opportunities at five local libraries, including Warkworth, Wellsford and Mahurangi East, and local board members will be able to provide information and advice. Feedback can also be submitted via email, letter or by phone.
The resulting information will be analysed and collated for local board members to consider when the final local board plan is decided in October.
To read the Local Board Plan and comment online, visit https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/rodney-local-board-plan-2023
