21 October 2013

Newly elected council rolling up sleeves to set ‘New Directions’ for a better Rotorua future

Even before the new council is sworn into office (30 October) Mayor-elect Steve Chadwick and councillors have already rolled up their sleeves and started work on identifying a new future for Rotorua, and re-focussing the direction they want the council to take.

Mayor Chadwick said there had been strong consensus at a workshop today [30 October] to develop a ‘First Hundred Days’ plan identifying all the work needed to be undertaken in the short term so the governance and operational arms of the council had a single road map to follow in the coming weeks and months.

“This is all about ‘New Directions’ for the council, and about a new and more positive future for our district and our community. We’ve been elected with strong expectations that things will change and, based on today’s workshop with councillors and managers, I’m extremely confident that there is a genuine will to do things differently from the past.

“A big part of the ‘New Directions’ programme will involve us working collaboratively over the next few weeks to focus on crafting a genuine vision for our district, one that we can then take out to the community and test to see if it matches the future residents want.

“I’ve personally made a commitment that enhanced community engagement is to be a hallmark of my mayoralty so I’m very pleased that our councillors are all on-board with this.

“As part of the vision-setting process I’m meeting with councillors in a series of one-on-one meetings this week to talk about elected members’ individual and personal aspirations for Rotorua. The feedback from these sessions will form part of our next workshop in this future-building and vision-setting process.

The mayor and councillors have agreed to a three-pronged timeline.

“Firstly we need to put in place our ‘First Hundred Days’ plan and get some real momentum underway. With today’s very positive get-together, and the preparatory work already undertaken by the chief executive and staff, we’re well down this track.

“Secondly, we need to know what we, as elected representatives, want to have achieved by the end of this term – by 2016.

“And thirdly we need to develop a long-term vision for our district’s future, right out to 2030.

“Some things we will be able to do quickly, some will take a little time before we see results, and other action will impact on what sort of community we are, over the longer-term. The important thing is that we know where we’re going and we understand what we need to do.

“This means our council wants be totally united in its efforts, that we have genuine engagement with our community, and that other government agencies and non-government organisations are with us on the journey ahead.

“Pulling all this together is our immediate challenge but I am hearted by the huge groundswell of support, goodwill and confidence that exists to achieve exactly that,” said Mayor Chadwick.

ENDS

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