Phase Two - Waiheke Plan Update

The Waiheke Local Board has now finalized and adopted the Waiheke Local Board Plan into which you provided input. It is now our guide for the board’s work for the next three years.

Your feedback was received, read and considered during finalisation of the plan, and we are really grateful for your participation. You’ll be interested to know that we received over 200 submissions, which is a healthy level of response from our community.

Waiheke residents gave overwhelming support for our proposed overarching vision of Waiheke as a sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the people of Waiheke prioritise their natural surroundings, with a large number of requests for a focus on protecting, restoring and developing our natural taonga: trees, wetlands, marine and wildlife. This fits well into the sanctuary concept.

Many people were concerned with visitor levels to the island, both as a source of business as well as their impact on our infrastructure and natural environment. While there was no strong consensus, it is clear that our visitors, whilst being a key component of our economy, also impact both our natural and built environments. The board must be mindful of the need to maintain balance between these matters in our work programme.

Transport was a hot topic and there was a strong call for safe cycle and walkways to enable reducing personal car usage. People were also keen to see an increase of electric vehicles.

As an island we are understandably focused on water: access, storage and quality, as well as management of stormwater.

We received very good support for our Dark Skies initiative, and as such will continue to support this project.

The last major theme to mention is the impact of lockdowns on our lives, and future planning for recovery and any future events. To this end we are committed to supporting our communities to develop or strengthen their emergency management plans, as part of increasing our resiliency.

We also need to acknowledge that we are working in a post-lockdown environment, and that our priorities and projects exist within a framework of economic recovery.

We look forward to working with you to progress the work you’ve indicated as important. We will be working with our island’s established and emerging community groups to progress the excellent work that is already underway.

Thank you again for taking the time to consider the issues and to give us your feedback.