Thursday 30 March 2006

What’s the regional council up to?

Now’s your chance to find out – and have your say!

Watch your letterbox next week (from 3rd April) so you don’t miss the arrival of a booklet setting out Environment Bay of Plenty’s plans for the next 10 years and how much they will cost to carry out.

More than 100,000 copies of the regional council’s Draft Ten Year Plan summary will be delivered all over the region, to houses from Waihi Beach to the East Cape and inland to Rotorua.

The 16-page booklet is easy to read and understand. It sets out really simply the regional council’s proposals for its future work programme and priorities for looking after the region’s environment.

It includes plans for cleaning up Rotorua’s lakes and better bus services, and suggests ways to help fund important roads so they get built more quickly. It makes a strong commitment to continuing to work with local people and groups for a better environment. It also proposes a new way of rating for some of its activities.

Environment Bay of Plenty chairman John Cronin says the Draft Ten Year Plan will affect people in the region and has financial implications for them. “Because of this, it is vital that people tell us what they agree with and what they don’t. We’re doing the work for the benefit of the community, and we need to know if we’ve got it right or not.”

It’s really easy to make a submission. You simply fill in the form on the back of the summary, and freepost it to Environment Bay of Plenty. You can also talk to a regional councillor (call Environment Bay of Plenty for contact details for your local councillors) and make a verbal submission through them. Submission open tomorrow (Friday 31 March) and close on Wednesday 3 May, so don’t leave it too late.

If you want more in-depth information, call Environment Bay of Plenty on 0800 ENV BOP (368 267) for a copy of the full Draft Ten Year Plan document or go to www.envbop.govt.nz.

Environment Bay of Plenty will run a regional roadshow to promote the information in the plan and ask people’s opinions of it. “We are promoting this very strongly all over the region because we really want people to be involved in the decision making,” Mr Cronin says. “This is their big chance.”

The display will be at the following locations over April:

6 April Kawerau Craft Market 10am to 2pm
7 April Bayfair, the Mount All day
8 April Katikati market day Morning
12 April Briscoes, Whakatane 10am to 2pm
18 April Rotorua city centre 10am to 2pm
20 April Opotiki town centre 10am ot 2pm
21 April Tauranga Red Square 10am to 2pm

ENDS

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