LTCCP consultation opens tomorrow

Whangarei District’s Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) has been adopted for consultation with the public, following approval by Audit New Zealand.

The plan is now open for submissions from members of the public and Council has held four public meetings. The meetings have been held to outline the contents of the plan, inform people where they may obtain or down load copies and how to take part in the submission process.

The submission process may be frustrating for some people who would rather debate issues than simply write them down and send them in as a submission, but the process has been developed to ensure that words and thoughts are captured by email, on submission forms, by letter or even over the phone and become a matter of public record.

"The system has been designed so that issues, thoughts and points of view can be captured permanently and addressed issue by issue,' said WDC Strategic Communications Manager Pauline Rose.

"People often have really worthwhile comments to make at meetings, but it is often difficult to record their comments as formal submissions. Many people may be talking at the same time, or one person may speak several times in the course of an evening and it can be difficult to make sure information is recorded accurately and attributed to the right people and that contact details are collected. So we recommend people make an official submission. "When we receive a submission we record it permanently, along with the name and details of the person submitting and whether or not they wish to speak at a hearing. We contact them and arrange times for them to speak at the hearings.

"Every submission goes to every Councillor to consider. Following the hearings and the final adoption of the plan, Council staff get back to every submitter in writing and let them know what has happened regarding their submission.

"That often requires referring different parts of a submission to a range of staff who may be involved.

"The long and short of it is that by making a submission a person is placing their point of view and recommendation on permanent record, making sure that it goes before the Councillors for consideration and that they also have an opportunity to stand in front of Council and state a case.'

Council has put together a range of material to help people to make effective submissions and these details can be found on the website under: www.wdc.govt.nz/ ltccp – look for the heading "view information about having your say'. We have also included this information in the Community Guide which you can obtain from our call centre on 430 4200.

Copies of the entire draft plan can be obtained from any Whangarei District Council Customer Service Centre (Forum North, Hikurangi or Ruakaka); from the Central Library, mobile library, Kamo or Onerahi branch libraries; or any of the 10 community libraries. You can also phone 0800 WDC INFO and ask the call centre representative to mail you a printed copy or a CD or you can find it online at www. wdc.govt.nz/ltccp .