Council set for public feedback on long-term community plan

19 May 2006

Next week, Christchurch city councillors begin considering feedback from the public about the long-term community plan, with about 430 individuals, groups and organisations wanting to be heard.

Some late submissions are still being processed, but the latest count shows the council has received about 1900 submissions on the draft plan, which must be finalised before the end of June. The submissions are online, at www.ccc.govt.nz/LTCCP/Draft/LtccpSubmissions/

“Of the total, more than 400 submitters have said they want to come in and speak,” says committee secretary Monique MacIntosh. “Of that 400, about 60 per cent are groups.

“To make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak, we hope submitters will understand that we need to work to a fairly strict timetable. Councillors have asked staff to let all submitters know that they will have read their written submissions; perhaps the best use of the time would be to quickly summarise their main points and be ready for questions from the councillors.”

These public hearings, which will be held in the Council Chambers on the ground floor of the Civic Offices on Tuam Street, will begin at 8am and run into the evening on most days. The expected hearings timetable is:

• Thursday 25 May – morning council meeting, community boards, community issues (eg, grants, community halls and early learning centres).
• Friday 26 May – Still to be decided, but it is expected that this day will also be used to hear submissions about community issues, including those from residents’ associations.
• Saturday 27 May – Libraries.
• Monday 29 May-Friday 2 June – Topics for each of these five hearing days are still to be set, but will include those about leisure and sports programmes; streets and transport; green space and open space issues; the environment and ecology; art, culture and heritage; regulation and democracy; feedback from political groups; rates and council spending; issues relating to the former Banks Peninsula district; central city revitalisation; the council vision and future planning; and submissions from business groups.
• Tuesday-Wednesday 6-7 June – Development Contributions Policy

The councillors have said they want to accommodate everyone who has indicated they wish to speak, and are prepared to hold hearings on 8 and 9 June if necessary. These days have been set aside for councillors to deliberate on what they have heard and if they are needed for submissions, the deliberations will be moved to 12 and 13 June. The completed 2006-16 community plan will be formally adopted on 30 June and comes into effect from 1 July.

The draft 2006-16 plan was released to the public at the end of March. In 2004, when the Council asked for community reaction to its first long-term community plan, about 320 submissions were received.

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