Timaru District Council has laid out its vision for the next decade of development and is inviting the community to see if they agree.

The first public engagement period for the Council’s Long Term Plan 2021-31 opened today, offering everyone in the district the opportunity to see if they agree with the vision, values and areas of council focus for the next 10 years.

A new website outlining these has been launched at thrivingtogether.co.nz

This enables you to explore the vision, values, outcomes and focus areas developed by council and community board members, tell them what they think and even suggest other that you think are a better fit or a higher priority.

Timaru District Mayor Nigel Bowen said that there were many challenges being faced by council that needed to be planned for, but COVID-19 had changed priorities for many people and provided the opportunity to step back and see if we were headed in the right direction.

“In these times of massive global change, we know together we can thrive. We thought that in these changing times we needed to change our approach to our long term planning,” he said.

“We’ve taken at fresh look at our vision, our values and our priorities for the district, then letting that steer where we take our long term planning.

“We’ve outline what Council and Board Members have come up with so far, but this is only us, for the complete picture we need your input.

“This is your opportunity to come in at this foundation level and help shape the things that underpin all our decisions going ahead.”

The overarching vision is to foster a district ‘Where people, place and business prosper within a healthy, adaptable and regenerative environment.’

The three values proposed to guide decision making going ahead are:

• Inclusive Leadership - Through inclusive leadership, citizens play an active role in the District, through shared responsibility and a connected vision for the future.
• Cultural Caretakers - Protecting and regenerating our unique cultural and environmental heritage so we can retain a strong sense of identity for current and future generations.
• Transition Navigators - Being adaptable to change by embedding the principles of agility and resilience into our approach towards enhancing our community wellbeing outcomes.

In order to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing, Council is focused on achieving five community wellbeing outcomes. The aim is to enable the district to have connected citizens, an enhanced lifestyle, a sustainable environment, a diverse economy and resilient infrastructure.

“Under these overall high level values sit a wide range of more tangible outcomes for our community that will help guide our council in the years ahead,” said Bowen.

“This is a completely different approach to previous years, but this is a completely different time in which we now live.

“This is an opportunity for us all to take stock and ensure that council decision making enables us to see Timaru District Thriving Together.”

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