Community to drive recovery plans

Following the 2023 storms, Auckland Council has begun facilitating community-led recovery planning with our three priority communities, impacted communities and mana whenua.

But what is community-led recovery planning and why is it so important?

Community-led recovery planning is about looking to the future after an emergency event. It is a community-driven process, where communities work together and decide their aspirations for the future. They decide their key priorities and agree on next steps to make them happen.

“Community-led recovery planning is driven by the community, for the community. It’s future-focused and about creating a collective vision after a disaster. It considers immediate priorities such as housing, roading and readiness for future events, alongside longer-term resilience and the impacts of climate change,” says Recovery Office Community and Social Recovery Lead, Linda Greenalgh.

“National and international research shows that communities who have a high degree of self-determination and who contribute actively to the planning and implementation of recovery activities, recover better and become more resilient.”

Community-led recovery plans are a key outcome of the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Plan.

Because the impacts of the extreme weather events are being felt very differently across the region, the planning is focusing on:

• Mana whenua: Enabling iwi to exercise kaitiakitanga within their rohe to address the impacts of the severe weather events and to respond to the changing climate.

• Priority communities: Three-year community-led recovery projects to support priority communities in Māngere, Roskill/Wesley and Henderson/Rānui. These areas were already disadvantaged prior to the events and are more likely to see further social vulnerability. The goal is to enable these communities to lead their own recovery and resilience building efforts.

• Impacted communities: In addition to the above communities, we will be supporting around 20 directly-impacted communities to engage a facilitator to support the development of local recovery plans over the next six to 12 months. Below is a table showing the impacted communities we have funded and are working with:

So what will be the council’s role?

The community themselves will lead the recovery planning process. Auckland Council’s role will be to support this planning, with a focus on building community capability, strengthening networks and communication, and enabling local leadership. 

Once communities have identified their recovery aspirations, council will support them to implement their ideas and link them into opportunities with a focus on building their capacity.

If you want to know more about local recovery planning, contact communitysocialrecovery@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.