Some early engagement on the Dunedin City Council’s next 10-year plan will begin next month.
At a full council meeting on Tuesday, councillors agreed staff should seek early feedback on what the Dunedin community is looking for from its council over the next 10 years.
The council will gather feedback online and through discussions with targeted stakeholder groups, which will be used to inform the development of a draft plan.
Full public consultation on the draft plan will still take place as per the usual plan development process in March and April next year, ahead of council deliberations and hearings in May.
The final 10-year plan 2021-2031 is scheduled to be signed off in June.
A staff report to councillors considering options for early engagement with the community said it provided an opportunity to check in with the community and seek some more specific feedback about its views and aspirations and funding options to inform the council's budget decisions later in the process.
Accessible online content would include contextual information on things like what the council did; work that was under way, planned and "on the horizon", such as work on the carbon zero target and changes at the legislative level that would impact council activities; and how the council presently paid for activities and its financial constraints.
Cr Carmen Houlahan said it was important to engage as much as possible.
"I want to know ... we have done our absolute best to give people the option to engage," Cr Houlahan said.
Cr David Benson-Pope said the pre-engagement consultation could only be beneficial.
"It’s better than nothing. It can only benefit the formal hearings," Cr Benson-Pope said.
Cr Mike Lord said people focusing on the Covid-19 environment and the upcoming election would not want to deal with added consultation.
"I don’t think [it] means we will not consult the public," Cr Lord said.
Cr Christine Garey also questioned the need for additional consultation.
"There’s a lot of noise out there," Cr Garey said.
"We don’t want to add to that noise."
In a show of hands, councillors voted 10-3 for the early engagement.
Crs Lee Vandervis and Marie Laufiso sent apologies.
