Most Waikato councils have adopted their LTPs now. Photo / Alastair Gutherie
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director (print) at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
OPINION
I recently took a deep dive into the adopted Long-Term Plans for 2024-34 (and Enhanced Annual Plans) of the 12 councils in the Waikato Herald circulation area.
And well, I think we need to talk about their varying levels of user-friendliness.
An LTP is a 10-year road map for a council’s projects, work and activities, and how they are funded.
So, in my view, knowing what ratepayers’ money is being spent on, which projects will become reality in the next 10 years and how much they will cost, is what most people will want to know if they have a look at an LTP.
But, after combing through the seemingly neverending documents in search of those important - and sometimes spicy - bits, I found some plans had the average person in mind more than others.
Some plans were served up in bite-size portions, or had a nice generic spending overview as an appetiser up the front, followed by a more detailed outline, including specific projects, as a main course later on.
Other plans were served as a standalone, unseasoned main dish that mainly gave context about the district and its challenges - sprinkled with some dry percentages, graphs and tables.
What specific projects were going to receive funding was stuffed somewhere towards the end of the meaty plan.
Because I’m a journalist and covering local government is part of the job, I am fairly familiar with most of the terminology and structure of those plans.
Despite this, I found digesting some of the LTPs challenging.
But if it’s challenging for me - being at least roughly familiar with these things - how do other people get on?
After all, the decisions in the LTPs affect everybody.
It’s no secret that local government can be very bureaucratic and looking at the voter turnout in New Zealand’s recent local elections, interest in local government has gone down.
Last year, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) even called for an independent review after a “record-low” voter turnout.
Especially getting young and more diverse people involved in local government - as a councillor or voter - has been a challenge.
A Wintec journalism student asked fellow students about the 2022 elections. None of them could name Hamilton’s mayor and very few knew an election was even happening.
As part of the Waikato Herald’s 2022 local election coverage, I talked to former Matamata-Piako mayor Ash Tanner, who said local government needed to become more diverse as it had the reputation of being “old, pale and stale”.
Hamilton councillor Kesh Naidoo-Rauf said a contributing factor to the low uptake from diverse communities was the structure and tone of voice of local government.
She said having a background as a pharmacist, she was taught to speak simple, so people understand. “But in council, the language is different, you use big words.”
Looking at the LTPs, “big words” are not the only issue.
The way the plans were presented made a huge difference in terms of being able to digest them.
In light of the above challenges local democracy faces, shouldn’t all councils have an equal interest in constituents understanding their LTP?
User-friendliness ranking
I’m no expert, but after spending some time with the Waikato LTPs and Enhanced Annual Plans, I have ranked the plans of councils in the Waikato Herald circulation area, according to their user-friendliness.
To those at the bottom of the list: Don’t be disappointed. You get another chance at the top spots in 2027 ;-)
Stay up to date with the Waikato Herald
Get the latest Waikato headlines straight to your inbox Monday to Saturday. Register for free today - click here and choose Local News.