Far North District Council staff at the pop-up stall in Kawakawa give out information and answer questions on its proposed strategic plans for the district, one of several public engagement events regarding the plans.
Far North District Council staff at the pop-up stall in Kawakawa give out information and answer questions on its proposed strategic plans for the district, one of several public engagement events regarding the plans.
Far North residents are being asked how they want their towns to develop and where future growth should be over the next 30 years, in a series of public events about its proposed spatial plan for the district.
The spatial plan will be guidance for the Far North District Councilon how residents think their part of the Far North should grow.
Te Rautaki Mokowā ā Rohe – the District Wide Spatial Strategy guides the development of spaces, places and how people and transport move from one to another. It factors in growth, and cultural and community values, alongside investment priorities. It will be the council’s strategy to guide where new homes, businesses, parks, roads, and other infrastructure go.
It will bring together land use, housing, infrastructure, environmental resilience, economic development, and community wellbeing to set one district-wide direction. It is intended to be locally relevant, co-designed with partners, and technically robust to support future planning processes, including the Regional Spatial Strategies. The council already has a spatial plan for Kerikeri and Waipapa and this will give other communities their own 30-year plan.
The council said the Far North faces unique challenges such as uneven population growth, socio-economic deprivation, service gaps, natural hazards, and infrastructure constraints and the strategy would provide a clear, districtwide plan to address these issues, build resilience, and make sure investment goes where it’s most needed.
Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward councillor Kelly Stratford, who was at Kawakawa’s pop-up event on Friday, said that because the Resource Management planning system is changing, the Far North needs to be ready. The new laws will require councils to help shape Regional Spatial Plans.
Stratford said it was important that all residents had their say on how they felt it should be implemented.
“This is so they can tell the council where they think things should go in their town and wider area. It’s so people in those communities can tell us where they think future growth should be, where the homes should be built, and not built, and what infrastructure is needed.”
No plan had been developed at this stage, and that would happen after the council had received the public feedback, developed a draft plan, and that plan would then go out for public consultation.
The council will hold pop-up events on the strategic plan on Tuesday, April 14 at Rāwene, opposite the wharf, from 11am to 1pm, and outside Ōpononi 4 Square from 10.30am to 1.30pm.
