Whangārei District Council flooded with record numbers having their say in Long Term Plan

The Whangārei District Council's Family Fun Day in March to engage with the community about the Long Term Plan. Photo / Tania Whyte

Nearly 3000 submissions were received by the Whangārei District Council on its 2021-31 Long Term Plan.

The huge response was a large increase from the 653 submissions and two petitions received during the WDC's 2018-2028 Long Term Plan (LTP) stage.

WDC general manager strategy and democracy Dominic Kula said it was "awesome to see people caring about what we do and having a say in Whangārei's future".

Around 2969 submissions were put before council from members of the public, organisations, groups and businesses.

And over the course of two and a half days council heard 125 submitters speak at the LTP 2021-24 Public Submissions and Hearings meetings that began on April 13.

Kula said there was a genuine interest from locals regarding many of Whangārei's key issues and challenges. These included transport, climate change, investment in event facilities, and the city centre.

"The amount of feedback we received tells us there's a good proportion of our community who have some really clear ideas about what they'd like to see happen in our district over the next 10 years, which is great news for Whangārei."

The issue of cat control was a hot topic with 1008 bulk submissions received and closely followed by the Ruakākā Community Centre with 970 submissions.

Bulk submissions are when the same submission has been put forth by multiple people or groups.

Kula said the submissions reflected the diversity of interest within the community.

"We tried some new things this year to connect with people who don't traditionally get involved in this process and it was fantastic to have these conversations with a much wider cross-section of our community."

More than 3000 people attended WDC's Family Fun Day at Pohe Island on March 27 that was an opportunity for people to learn more about the next Long Term Plan.

WDC also held 15 public meetings around the district which included a hui with Nga Hapū o Whangārei at Terenga Parāoa Marae.

Council's deadline for the proposed adoption of the LTP 2021-31 is June 24 this year.