Napier City Council wants community input into its upcoming Three-Year Plan. Photo / Warren Buckland
Napier City Council wants community input into its upcoming Three-Year Plan. Photo / Warren Buckland
Opinion by Kirsten Wise
OPINION
Have you ever commented on a council social media post?
It might have been a compliment on how great a new playground looks. Or maybe council did something you didn’t agree with and you shared your views on how we could have done things differently.
Public voice is essential in any democracy, but this needs to be done in a way that helps elected representatives use your views to make decisions on your behalf.
At Napier City Council we use a website called Say It Napier. With our Three-Year Plan currently open for consultation, this is a great time to get involved in council decision making.
All you have to do is go to sayitnapier.nz and make a submission.
Napier mayor Kirsten Wise. Photo / NZME
The Three-Year Plan has six main things we want your opinions on.
They are retirement housing, resilience, investments, increasing fees, how to best move some facilities to a commercial model and the future of council office accommodation.
Getting involved can sound daunting but the process is fairly simple, and I encourage you to be part of it. Broken down to its smallest parts, it looks like this:
1. Read the summary of the proposed Three-Year Plan you received in your letterbox, or read online at ‘Say It Napier’.
2. You can ask questions about the Three-Year Plan by coming along to our drop-in sessions.
3. You can also attend our public meeting.
4. Ask questions of your ward councillor. These are listed on our website.
5. Make your submission to the plan through ‘Say It Napier’.
6. In May, attend the hearings if you would like, either to hear submissions from others or speak in support of your own submission. You can also watch the hearings live on our Facebook page.
It can be tempting to use channels like Facebook and Letters to the Editor to give us your opinions, but views expressed there can’t be counted as official feedback and can’t be used in making decisions.
What counts are submissions. These can be done simply online at sayitnapier.nz. We also have hard copies available at our libraries in Taradale and Napier City, and at the Customer Service Centre on Hastings Street in Napier CBD.
Every submission is read and every submission matters. Once you’ve submitted your thoughts you will have the opportunity to come and speak to the full council if you want to.
This part of the process is called hearings. It is really helpful for us as elected representatives to hear directly from you.
As we go through the Three-Year Plan process, please consider getting involved. We work for you, and to do our best work we rely on having your voice at the heart of decision making.
When we make decisions, we weigh up all submissions to ensure we are working in the best interest of the community overall.
Drop-In Sessions:
8.30am to 12.30pm, Saturday, April 13, Napier Urban Farmers Market.
10am to 11am, Saturday, April 20, Taradale Library.
