“The criticism often levelled at councils is that we just come out with a plan and we’ve already made up our minds, and it’s just a bit of lip service.
“That isn’t the case but I can understand how it’s viewed that way, and so this is one of the ways we are trying to engage more with the community to make sure the plan we do put out next year has been shaped around what our community wants to see.”
She felt climate resilience was the biggest issue facing the council.
“I think, without a doubt, it’s climate resilience, the impact of flooding and weather events that are going to be exacerbated by climate change, that’s coming at us at a rapid rate of knots.
“I don’t believe our communities are set up to deal with that, and the entire society and the way we run things isn’t set up adequately. Our long-term plan will have a special focus on that.”
She said the council had already been having those discussions but the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on rural communities had “sharpened the focus”.
“It helps people understand the reality, you can’t avoid it when it’s of that scale.
“We’d already seen the unsustainable nature of the way some of our flood protection schemes were working, given we had a number of weather events last year.”
A public survey will allow people to rank what they think the council should prioritise in the long-term plan.
“It’s really helpful for us as councillors to hear from our communities and to get a response when we’re asking for this level of feedback because we do listen and it does help shape our work programme.”
The online survey is open at haveyoursay.horizons.govt.nz until September 17.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
