Council’s draft Long Term Plan passed a milestone on Sunday when consultation closed and the massive job of reading and analysing submissions began.

It has been a busy past month with councillors and staff attending about 30 events, from town meetings to club gatherings and informal barbecues. But the feedback generated is important in planning for the future, from maintaining or improving essential services like roads and water, to investing in things like pools and halls.

We’ve had over 1500 submissions and now staff and councillors are busy reading through them all ahead of hearings that start on 13 May and are expected to run over three days. At this stage, 119 people have indicated they want to speak to their submissions, so we will make more time if needed.

Deliberations, when councillors debate and decide the final form of the Long Term Plan, start on 20 May. The final plan will be adopted in June.

The key topics that attracted the most feedback were the green waste kerbside collection and the water-based leisure investment, with more than 1300 giving feedback on each of those topics.

Early indications are that most submitters support a larger green waste bin that would take food scraps and lawn clippings and prunings. As with all the key decisions, councillors will look at the feedback, read all the supporting material supplied by staff and make a decision – in this case between adding a small bin just for food waste or a large green waste one to the kerbside rubbish and recycling collection.

Working through the key decisions and spending priorities proposed in the draft Long Term Plan takes time and careful consideration, because any changes (doing more or less), affect the rates you pay.

The doors of Hine Paaka, the Council chamber, will be open to the public during deliberations and I encourage anyone interested in drop by and listen. The deliberations will also be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook for the public to see and hear the discussion  if you can’t get into the chamber.

Another, but completely different, event that has also attracted a lot of attention lately is Glow in the Park, planned for the Ashburton Domain on King’s Birthday weekend.

This will be Council’s third Glow in the Park and, as in the past, the event will be free. This year the domain turns 160 and its stunning natural beauty will be the perfect spot to experience the magic of light.