11 April 2012

Hearings on draft 10-year plan underway

More than 1500 submitters are taking the opportunity to have their say in person at hearings on Auckland Council’s draft Long-term Plan (2012-2022) which begin this week.

The council received almost 10,000 submissions on the draft 10-year plan following the month-long public consultation period, which included more than 80 community meetings and public road shows. Submissions closed on 23 March.

Submitters gave us their views on a wide range of the proposals included in the draft with around 50,000 submission points made. The most feedback received was on the proposed changes in dog registration fees with almost 4,500 submitters and more than 850 wanting to speak on this topic.

Other topics with a high amount of submissions were:
Financial related such as rates and rating policy; treasury management policy; wastewater tariffs; user fees and charges and local board funding; transport related topics such as transport strategy; Regional Land Transport programme; City Rail Link and walking and cycling paths. There was also a significant number of submitters that spoke on economic strategy and initiatives.

“It’s great to see people took the time to have their say on a range of issues, which is what we asked for,” says Penny Webster, chair of the council’s Strategy and Finance Committee.

“There are some tough decisions we need to make and the thought and consideration people put into their feedback is important in guiding us to make those decisions.”

The council is holding both local and regional hearings from 10 April until 7 May.

Local hearings will run until 24 April and are focussed on submissions related to local matters and the respective draft local board agreements. These submitters will be heard by a panel of local board members and relevant ward councillors.

Regional hearings begin on 23 April and will run until 7 May with a panel of ward councillors hearing submissions on regional matters.

All written and verbal submissions will be carefully considered. Any changes as a result of public feedback will be incorporated in the final document which will be adopted at the end of June 2012.

Draft Long-term Plan Hearing dates:
For a full list of hearing dates click here or go to www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/longtermplan

ENDS

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