Council policy manager Elise Broadbent says there are multiple people in the Whanganui community who feel their voice isn't heard. Photo / Bevan Conley
A decade-old Whanganui District Council strategy is set for an overhaul with the taxpayer covering the $229,300 consultancy fees.
Named the Leading Edge Strategy, the document aimed to make Whanganui “an energised, united and thriving district offering abundant opportunities for everyone”.
It was introduced in 2014 and revised in 2018.
According to a council report, of the 69 action points in the strategy, 11 have been completed, 55 are ongoing and three are yet to start.
Completed initiatives include an improvement in national perceptions of the district as a tourism destination and the establishment of suburban library hubs.
Council policy manager Elise Broadbent told an operations and performance committee meeting that while much had been accomplished since 2014, a lot had changed.
“It’s clear that a new direction is required to guide the council and the community.
“We want to look back to council’s core purpose - to promote community wellbeing now and into the future.”
Councillor Kate Joblin said the current council had already been out in the community more than possibly ever before.
She wondered if there would be “an added value outcome” to refreshing the strategy.
“Given the information we’ve got and the engagement we’ve been on so far, could you go and write us a new Leading Edge Strategy and then condense the work we’re doing around consultation with the community, shorten the process and save some money?”
Broadbent said there were multiple people in the community who felt their voice wasn’t heard.
“We want to make sure we are getting a diversity of views.
“I think we are in a really unique time, with the economic situation, so it’s really important we touch base with the community and all parts of the community to find out what’s important to them.”
The council has enlisted the services of RCP (Resource Coordination Partnership) as the community engagement consultant.
Speaking to the Chronicle, council chief executive David Langford said money from the government’s ‘Better Off’ fund would cover “pretty much all of the costs” of refreshing the strategy.
“The consultants’ fees are only a chunk of that,” Langford said.
“Doing these strategy pieces of work isn’t cheap so being able to do it without spending any ratepayers’ money is an awesome result.
“It’s also helping us work in partnership with our iwi as well. Some of that money goes to basically pay for their time to be part of the project team.”
Councillor Michael Law said Whanganui had a booming population that was no longer filled with the “old boys club of Collegiate”.
People had come to Whanganui from Auckland, overseas, and everywhere, he said.
“That is the new Whanganui and I look to forward it.
“I look forward to talking to them. Our chief executive, the staff, our mayor, and our elected members, I think we are up for the challenge.”
Mayor Andrew Tripe, who worked as a consultant on the original strategy, asked if Whanganui’s identity would be incorporated in the review.
Broadbent said it was about asking the community questions that would elicit responses around that issue.
“What makes Whanganui unique, points of difference to other centres. As we know, there is plenty here that’s unique and special,” she said.
Tripe said he wasn’t precious about the ‘Leading Edge’ name and asked if it was still the relevant phrase for capturing the vision and direction for Whanganui.
Broadbent said it was the right term at the time but things had changed.
“Some of the wording coming through is more around connecting up people, cohesion, neighbourhood, and obviously the awa (river) is much more front and centre - rightly so.”
Tripe said the strategy refresh and the council’s long-term plan were “colliding at the same time” and while that was unfortunate, it was very do-able.
“Whilst we are in a situation right now across the country and In Whanganui itself where things are challenging, we will come out of that at some stage.
“We need to set our sights on being ambitious and bold for the future.”
Langford said the ongoing activities from the original strategy didn’t have a finish line.
Examples include fostering literacy and learning, developing identifiable people, products and proposals, and partnering with iwi on projects.
“Most of the strategy has been done, which is another reason why we need to rest and look further ahead into the future.
“Andrew (Tripe, mayor) held the pen and wrote the original (strategy) so it’s cool having him onboard for this next one.”
A community engagement programme is planned to start in July and the first draft of the refreshed strategy is due in October.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.