At the halfway point, Canterbury Mayoral Forum members have taken pause to celebrate the achievements made to date – but they haven’t taken their foot off the accelerator.

In a report published in the middle of the local government term, the Forum has highlighted its achievements against the aims of their Plan for Canterbury 2023-25. The three key priorities laid out in the Plan are:

• Sustainable environmental management of our habitats
• Shared prosperity for all our communities
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Where have the wins been?

Following the 2023 general election, the Forum refreshed its Plan for Canterbury to ensure it reflected the current political context and the key priority actions the leaders wished to focus on for the remainder of the term.

The Canterbury Climate Partnership Plan was completed, with member councils mapping the actions into their own work programmes, ensuring a cohesive, localised response to climate action across the region. A launch for the Plan will be held later in the year. Work on other plans and documents has also commenced, including the regional housing strategy, a regional energy inventory and identifying regional economic development priorities.

Forum chair, Nigel Bowen, emphasised the strength of the collective: “The work of the Mayoral Forum is often invisible. It is where the region’s council leaders come together to put the broader Waitaha/Canterbury region - and all our communities – front and centre. We work together to create a joined up, regional response to the big issues such as our changing climate, our economy, and our environment. Our mid-term achievements prove this”.

Of note was a significant hui in 2023 with nine Government ministers to discuss the Plan for Canterbury and advocate for key issues for our communities. This advocacy work continued in 2024, with several meetings with Ministers to raise key issues of interest for Canterbury.

Chair Nigel Bowen is proud of what has been achieved so far and notes that the Forum is in good heart to push for what is needed for the region.

“We remain as focused as ever on providing a unified voice on the priority issues for our region to build a strong Canterbury.”

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