Ashburton looks ahead to long term plan consultation
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Criticism of consultation methods are being considered ahead of one of the biggest engagement processes for Ashburton District Council: the long-term plan.
Considering how to engage with the community is almost as important as what is consulting on, democracy and engagement group manager Toni Durham (pictured) said.
“It’s a consistent challenge and focus for us to ensure that people are engaged throughout the community.
“We are reviewing ways to improve this, despite the resourcing constraints we have.”
The council’s approach to consultation came under fire during the recent economic development strategy (EDS).
Several submitters suggesting that the draft EDS lacked cultural diversity and was light on business responses, considering it was an economic strategy.
Some submissions also questioned if there had been enough engagement before the draft was produced.
The EDS draft was formed with input from businesses and groups that were engaged in the process through a series of workshops and conversations since 2021, Durham said.
“These stakeholders helped to form the intent and action points in the draft document.”
What wasn’t clear in the strategy was who those stakeholders were and what exactly they had added.
“We are always conscious of ensuring draft documents are concise and clear to be readable to the community.
“We will consider how best to provide this information in the future.”
Council chief executive Hamish Riach said the consultation process looked at whether to go to the community with a blank piece of paper or prepared draft as the starting point.
The council could engage with a lot more people to form any draft but “a really deep participatory approach would require significantly different resourcing”, Riach said.
Strategies and policies are generally developed with some pre-engagement to help shape the draft document and then consultation to refine it, Durham said.
“The balance is always in ensuring the right conversations, with the right people at the right time.”
The council had a "pleasing response" to its pre-engagement for next year’s LTP process, with more than 900 responses to the survey and workshops, Durham said.
That number could bode well for when the LTP draft is released for consultation next year. The 2021-31 draft LTP only received 431 submissions.
Durham said that figure was low but it reflected the work of the pre-engagement undertaken for the last LTP.
Council officers are preparing business cases and activity plans to be considered for the LTP.
“This work will continue over the next 10 months,” Durham said.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.9% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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