Council's plan to consult

Extended cycling trails, and dedicated events and economic development funding are just some of the proposals under the spotlight in the Napier City Council's consultation document for its 2015-2025 Long Term Plan.

The council officially adopted the consultation document for its 2015-2025 Long Term Plan at a meeting yesterday. The council is proposing an average rates increase of 2.9 per cent for existing ratepayers in 2015-16.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said an incredible amount of work by councillors and staff had gone into preparing the consultation document and the supporting documents for the Long Term Plan.

"I hope members of our community will take the time not only to read the consultation document, but to have their say, either in a formal submission to the council, or at one of our consultation events."

Monday marks the beginning of the formal stage of community engagement to do with the Long Term Plan, following on from a call for informal feedback and sharing of ideas from the public to the council, which started in December last year.

Amendments to the Local Government Act last July mean that the difference between the consultation process, using a consultation document, and the document that forms the basis for councils' ongoing accountability, the Long Term Plan, are more clearly defined.

It has changed the way local authorities such as Napier can communicate information about their Long Term Plans to communities, ensuring as many people as possible have access to this information, when they should be offering their feedback, and that councils appreciate their feedback.

The consultation document, and other related documents such as the council's infrastructure strategy, will be available online from the council's website, www.napier.govt.nz, keyword #haveyoursayltp2015, from noon on Monday.

Interested parties will also be able to make a submission online from this time, until the closure of the submissions period at noon on Wednesday, May 13.

Paper versions of the consultation document will be distributed to Napier households on Wednesday, April 22.

The public will be able to discuss the Long Term Plan with the council face to face during a series of events hosted by the mayor and councillors between Thursday, April 23, and Sunday, May 3 - a pop-up shop in the Napier CBD, and meetings held in Ahuriri, Taradale, Onekawa and the Nelson Park area.