The Waikato District Blueprint will help realise the overall vision established by Council for the district, which is to create Liveable, Thriving and Connected Communities – He noohanga aahuru, he iwi whai ora, he hapori tuuhono tahi.
In 2018 we came to your town to hear what was important to you and what you wanted to see in your community in the future. During these workshops we heard lots of great ideas and information.
In early 2019 we asked for your feedback on your top three priorities for your town, along with your priorities for the district. These priorities will be used by Council to help make some decisions as we move into the next Long Term Plan period.
In June 2019 the Waikato District Blueprint was approved by Council.
We visited again in June/July 2020 to discuss who should lead each of the Blueprint initiatives. This latest round of feedback asked for your thoughts on the priority ranking and who should be leading each initiative. Is the priority still top, or is something else more important? Should Council or the community, or perhaps a mix of both, be leading the initiative? Feedback closed 17 July 2020.
What's next?
The Blueprint has informed the current 2021-2031 Long Term Plan;
a number of Blueprint initiatives have been funded and progressed (see
implementation update below). In 2023, as Council works towards the 2024-2034
Long Term Plan, we will check in again to ensure we have a clear steer on which
Blueprint initiatives are most important to you and your community. From the
Blueprint, a number of the top priorities that are Council-led will be fed into
the Long Term Plan considerations and may get funding. For the other
initiatives, work can continue based on community priorities.
It’s important to note that just because a project or initiative might be in the Blueprint, it doesn’t mean it will happen straight away, or even at all. If it does happen, the project may not necessarily be Council funded. Instead this might be a perfect opportunity for a community to drive, with funding from other agencies and Council’s support.
Below are the most recent progress reports (from September 2022) on implementing initiatives in the Local Area Blueprints and the Districtwide Blueprint. The summary updates have been based on input from staff, Councillors and Community Board / Committee Chairs.
If you aware of any errors or can provide additional updates, please contact Jim Ebenhoh, Planning and Policy Manager, at jim.ebenhoh@waidc.govt.nz. The intent is for these progress reports to be updated every six months.