Community Challenged to Look to the Future – “A Unique Place. An Inspiring Future | He Wāhi Tūhāhā. He Āmua Whakaohooho”

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult has called for the community to look beyond the horizon and seek solutions for future generations.

“We are about to undertake one of the most important conversations with the people and the communities of our district that will influence the lives of our children as they grow in the Lakes District,” Mr Boult said.

The community is being asked to share their thoughts on a vision for our district. Looking beyond the year 2050, the vision work – titled A Unique Place. An Inspiring Future | He Wāhi Tūhāhā. He Āmua Whakaohooho – presents eight key themes for how we want to live, work and play in the future.

“This is a vision for our people, by our people and while we have called on a number of great thinkers and diverse stakeholders from across the district to drive that work, now we want to hear the voice of our wider communities,” Mr Boult said.

Instead of a multi-page detailed document that people might expect from a vision driven by local government, the work had resulted in a series of defining principles that were intended to be carried into the future.

Each principle is brought to life through additional future-focused outcomes that inform planning and define what we hope for, hear or experience in day-to-day life in the Lakes District beyond the year 2050.

“With unprecedented growth in our district the time is right to ensure that growth is not at the expense of what we hold dear. I expect people may be challenged by these principles and outcomes, others may feel they want them to be bolder. I think they will instigate some strong debate. That is genuinely my hope,” Mr Boult said.

“A desire for Queenstown Lakes residents to be able to awaken to a deafening dawn chorus is a great example that could have implications for many agencies, businesses, education and our ethnically-diverse community. I find that both moving and powerful but others may have a different view,” Mayor Boult said.

Housing, transport, active travel, cultural and economic diversity are just some of the other significant issues that the vision addresses.

It will also form a key part of a strategy to plan for future capacity and development in the district, meeting the expected demands of our growing community in both housing and business. The strategy will integrate land use and infrastructure planning, and will address the aspirations of QLDC and community for how growth and change should be accommodated and managed.

Mayor Boult confirmed that with the guiding community-owned principles set through the Beyond 2050 visioning work, Council will be developing other longer-term plans for the district.

“In the first half of 2019, we will be leading further district-wide engagement to garner community input into a variety of key programmes that feed into the big picture. These include how and where growth in the district can be accommodated, and what needs to change within our towns to accommodate this.”

This work will also sit alongside existing and evolving town-specific masterplans, the District Plan review, plans for community facilities and the bold and ambitious 2018-2028 Ten Year Plan which was approved by Council in June.

“We encourage everyone in the district to get involved. The future of our district belongs to us all and we are only limited by our imaginations.”

Get involved by seeing the vision and providing feedback online at www.qldc.govt.nz before Friday 25 January 2019. Alternatively find out more at one of the drop-in sessions or pick up information at any Council office or library.

ENDS

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