Twelve years have now elapsed since the last update of the Gisborne council's disability policy. Photo / 123rf
A Gisborne resident is upset that the council’s disability strategy hasn’t been reviewed in more than a decade.
This is despite holding a meeting between members of the disabled community and Gisborne District Council in 2024, at which they requested its renewal.
Karen Tait, who has an adult son with rheumatoid arthritis and also has the condition herself, helped set up the meeting in March 2024.
She now questions why the strategy still has not been updated.
“All they had to do was just go through the old strategy and update it,” she said.
At the time of the meeting, Tait, who is also chairwoman of the advisory committee to Gisborne’s CCS Disability Action, told Local Democracy Reporting that “barriers” were everywhere for disabled people in the region.
Gisborne’s three-year Disability Strategy, which expired in 2013, states the strategy would be reviewed every three years.
However, between 2013 and 2015, non-statutory strategies, including the disabled strategy, were not pulled into ongoing reviews and updates moving forward.
In a statement to Local Democracy Reporting, council strategic planning manager Charlotte Knight said the council had undertaken a “rationalisation process for its discretionary policies and strategies” between 2013 and 2015, reducing the number of documents from 16 to four.
“Instead of a standalone policy, the intent was to address consideration of how to support accessibility, wellbeing, and inclusive design going forward as part of other policy/strategies/plans/bylaws.”
However, after requests and feedback from the council’s recovery process, it has commenced “early scoping” to re-establish the Disability Strategy.
Tait said she felt discarded by the district council and was “disgusted” by the council’s original decision to fold the disability strategy into other documents.
“[The strategy] covers everybody in the community. It’s not something you can just knock off your list.
“I don’t think it’s a worthwhile explanation because every family has a person with a disability in it.”
She noted other councils had disability strategies in place, including in the Far North, where she would be relocating to this month.
Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People had selected six members of the disabled community, including Tait, to create the Whaikaha Community Led Recovery Plan, which was shared with council members during the 2024 meeting.
The presentation led to calls for the council to establish a disability advisory group, a resource centre for people with disabilities, and an updated emergency response procedure.
The council’s sustainable futures director at the time, Joanna Noble, said a review of the council’s Disability Strategy was on the work programme, but the timing and scope of the review had not been confirmed at that time.
Since the meeting, Tait said the council had set up a group for people with disabilities, which had met regularly, but she resigned when she felt it was “going around in circles” and no progress had been made.
“We thought we were going to be the disability group for the council, like the advisory group ... But it vastly didn’t turn into that.”
Deputy chief executive of strategy and enablement at the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha, Ginny Baddeley, said it worked with councils and Local Government New Zealand on key issues, but does not recommend specific planning models or approaches.
“These decisions sit with councils and reflect their local context, priorities and processes.”
“Whaikaha recently released the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030, which sets a shared vision for an accessible and equitable New Zealand and outlines the Government’s commitment to disabled people.“
The document highlights that change relies on action across the system, including local government, Baddeley said.
“While there are no specific expectations on councils, the strategy provides guidance that councils can draw on in local planning and decision-making to support accessibility and inclusion, and to enable disabled people’s participation in their communities.”
Meanwhile, the Gisborne council has confirmed “early scoping” had begun for the re-establishment of its Disability Strategy.
Knight said a memo would be sent to Te Ranga Whakahau (the council’s leadership team) in early 2026, which would outline timing, scope and any further decisions needed.
The council had not yet established a formal Disability Advisory Group or resource centre.
“We are, however, continuing to work directly with disability representatives on key projects and early engagement processes,” she said.
“Further work is required to confirm the best long-term model for advisory input.”