infonews.co.nz
Login Sign up
COMMUNITY

Call For Community Input To Create Vision For Future

Queenstown Lakes District Council

Wednesday 31 August 2011, 6:43PM

By Queenstown Lakes District Council

185 views

QUEENSTOWN

The Shaping our Future process takes another significant step next month with a series of community meetings planned throughout September aimed at creating a “Vision of Success for the Future” for the Queenstown Lakes District.

The Shaping our Future project is community driven and aims to bring together residents, business, local government and other agencies to debate the important issues for the future of the district.

Steering Group spokesman David Kennedy said the recent forums focusing on the economic future and an events strategy had been well supported and it was now time to tackle the vision which was seen as the greatest challenge.

“The key is uniting under one vision. If we can all agree where we want to go, it’s a lot easier to agree on how to get there. The Shaping our Future forums are a way for everyone to be listened to.”

The meetings are planned for Cardrona on September 1, Arrowtown September 8, Glenorchy September 12, Kingston September 13, Hawea September 14, Luggate September 19, Wanaka September 26, Makarora September 27 and Queenstown September 28.

Mr Kennedy said people could attend any of the nine community meetings, but not necessarily in their own area.

“We want to unify this region so people shouldn’t feel they can only attend their local forums. They are welcome to turn up to as many as they want and people who live in Queenstown, for example, might find it interesting to hear what Hawea residents have to say. We are definitely encouraging cross pollination of our communities.”

The steering group’s goal is to find out exactly how people envisage the future direction of the district.

“We will be focusing on what people perceive for the area in 50 years’ time which is different from now, what they like most about their community and what they would hate to see lost,” said Mr Kennedy. “There are a whole range of diverse issues which we want to see highlighted and discussed. Everyone will get their chance to have their say during the open discussions and all points of view will be listened to.”

Following the visioning forums, priorities will be identified and further public forums will be held. These will identify actions needed to achieve the Queenstown Lakes District’s vision for the future.

“Without concrete action plans all of these forums could be seen as just ‘talkfests’”, said Mr Kennedy. “Our goal is to turn Shaping our Future into a community think tank that delivers something real.”

People who are unable to attend meetings can also have their say through -