Council is asking people to take 10 minutes to have their say on the next 10 years.

Work is under way on the Long Term Plan 2024-34 and Council wants to hear from residents about how their community is doing and issues they see in the future. The feedback will help shape a draft Long Term Plan and formal consultation in the new year.

Democracy and Engagement Group Manager Toni Durham said Council was required to promote the four well-beings – environmental, cultural, economic and social.

“All of the services Council provides contribute to community well-being in some way, from the roads that connect our communities and enable our produce to be transported, to the parks that encourage healthy lifestyles and play.

“So we have developed four short surveys with questions grouped into these themes, and we will be encouraging people to take 10 minutes and tell us their thoughts.

“We’ll focus on a different well-being each week and the surveys will be available online or in paper form. However, you don’t have to wait to do the surveys, from Monday 17 July you’ll be able to jump online straight to the topic that interests you the most.”

To encourage people to take part, every completed survey goes into a draw for one of 10 family passes to the Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa.

Take one, or all, of the four surveys now:

• Social - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SocialWB
• Cultural - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CulturalWB
• Environmental - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EnvironmentalWB
• Economic - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EconomicWB

“We want to get feedback from a wide range of people in our community, and this is a fun way to perhaps encourage those who don’t often interact with Council to get involved,” Mrs Durham said.

“Given the significant reform currently under way for local government, we are particularly interested in what role Council could play in some areas that it may not have been as involved in previously.

“The feedback being gathered in the surveys will let Council know what issues and challenges residents view as important, and help us develop a draft Long Term Plan to cover 2024-2034. Once the draft plan is ready in early 2024, it will be presented to the community for feedback before the final plan is adopted by Council.”

Council produces a new Long Term Plan every three years because circumstances and the community’s wishes can, and often do, change over time.

The plan maps out the Council’s priorities and work programme for the next 10 years. It says what Council will be doing, how much it costs and who will pay. Council’s current Long Term Plan is for 2021-2031.

You can find more about the Long-Term Plan here.