Phase one - Waiheke plan update

Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts in March about the future of Waiheke, when we were seeking ideas for our Local Board Plan and Area Plan. We are very grateful for all the feedback received.

Who we heard from

March seems like a long time ago now. We held public consultation events including sausage sizzles, meetings with Community Networks Waiheke and the Waiheke Special Needs Group, a public workshop with seniors at the Ostend Hall, and a breakfast with business groups. We had one-on-one conversations with you at Countdown and at the wharf. We had planned events right through to the end of March but due to COVID-19 we had to cancel the last few meetings including one with east-end residents.

What you said

We held ten events and walk-bys, attended eight community meetings and received 480 pieces of feedback for the plan. All feedback was recorded and themed to help us draft our local board plan. The top themes from your feedback were tourism, protection of the island environment, local economy, resilience and food security, Matiatia, water and housing.

What happens next

COVID-19 has meant a dramatic shift to many locals and the economic recovery will take some time. Accordingly, we have introduced some significant additional changes to our draft Local Board Plan.

That is going out for formal consultation between 13 July and 13 August. Consultation may look a little different depending if we are still in alert Level One. We will use all the channels of online, print, and radio and be in touch with the details closer to the time. We are also planning a community meeting in July so you can give us feedback on the plan face-to-face.

We would like to thank the Gulf News, Waiheke Resources Trust, the Waiheke Collective, the Over Forties Club and Waiheke Connect for assisting us to get the word about our consultation out; Waiheke Organics for stocking us for the sausage sizzles; and Countdown for letting us sit outside on a Saturday morning.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who took the time to meet with us and our local board team, and to those who sent in your feedback. We believe we have a good plan for the challenging times ahead and look forward to hearing your feedback in July/August.

Stay safe – kia kaha

Cath, Bob, Robin, Kylee and Paul
Waiheke Local Board