Long-term Brainstorm

Brainstorming ideas get Council attention

In April, we asked the community to share ideas for what Council needs to think about for the next ten years and beyond. The ideas “brainstorm” was designed to help guide the Long-term Planning process, which is currently underway. We heard from 58 people who took the time to offer their ideas, both big and small, to improve our community.

All of the ideas were given individual consideration by Council staff, councillors or community board members. A number of factors were considered, including the role Council has to play, budgets, level of community support, and how the idea fits with Council’s objectives, plans and projects that may already be in the pipeline.

After a full review of the ideas submitted, a response was provided to each submitter in the form of a comment on the Long-term Brainstorm project page on the Let’s Talk engagement platform http://lets-talk.codc.govt.nz.

“When the community engages with Council, we need to ensure that they’ve been heard and that their ideas and suggestions have been considered.” – Saskia Righarts, General Manager Business Support. This brainstorm reflects a new and engaging way of interacting with the public.

Here at Council, staff and your elected representatives are turning our thoughts to our long-term planning cycle in preparation for the Long-term Plan 2024-2034 and we want YOU involved.

We’d love you to share ideas for what we need to think about for your town, district or community.

We know times are tough right now. That’s putting the squeeze on a lot of grand plans and having us focus more on core services. We still believe this is an opportunity for you to flag with us what you’d like to see in the mix of things we consider for the next 10 years and beyond.

It could be a little idea that would have a big impact, or something bigger you think needs to be on our radar and given consideration or explored further. It could be a project that needs financial support to happen, or maybe you need council’s backing for an initiative in some other non-financial way.

We want to start these long-term conversations with our community now to ensure the community voice feeds into our planning process early on.

If you have an idea, share it below. You can include a photo, and like or comment on someone else’s post, but please be respectful of others. Your comments will appear publicly to provide inspiration and interest for others and encourage the wider community to engage.

The Long-term Brainstorm has concluded. Thank you for your ideas.