Community feedback calling for climate action and environmental protection has been used to shape the Papakura Local Board Plan 2023, which has now been formally adopted.
The city’s 21 local boards are required by law to produce a plan every three years, and the plan adopted is the first for the board elected last year.
It sets out the board’s priorities for the remainder of its term:
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Māori outcomes
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Climate action
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Our people
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Our environment
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Our community
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Our places
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Our economy.
Board chair Brent Catchpole says adopting the plan transitions the board from the previous board’s vision to that of the new members.
“It reflects not only members’ views, but certainly those of the community.
“We did a lot of engagement around the plan and that feedback has shaped the final version, with the community particularly vocal on the board adopting a role in fighting climate change, and in preserving the environment.
“We want our plan to truly reflect what the community has called for, so we will step up and do what we can to achieve those outcomes for our people.
“It’s especially important because these are areas that were of special significance to our young people, a group that it is often hard to engage with, and to our Māori community, which reveres its role as guardian of the natural environment.”
Catchpole says the plan will guide local board activity, funding and investment decisions and also influence board input into regional strategies and plans, including annual budgets.
“That’s important because Auckland Council’s 10-year budget consultation begins later this year.
“Our plan needs to help shape that larger overall guiding plan for our city.
“We believe it reflects our community’s wishes, and one thing that has not changed from the previous plan is our commitment to putting local residents’ interests at the heart of our decision-making.
“Our interactions with Ngati Tamaoho in particular remind us that we are merely guardians.
“The community will be here long after we have gone, so our goal has to be to pass it on to future generations in the best possible shape we can.”
The plan is here.
