Waitara Community Board Plan 2020-2023

We are pleased to present our findings of the review of our Community Board Plan.

We have been hamstrung with Covid-19 and, as a result, most of our submissions and review of our Plan was conducted electronically. Whilst we did start this just prior to the lockdowns, as they came into effect we found ourselves unable to have meetings with community groups and people of our communities. We even found it difficult for the community board members to meet, as we worked through the responses we received from our community.

How did we do our review? We initially made it known, through various channels, that we were planning a review of our Community Board Plan. We had already received some initial feedback. As we went into lockdown, we then focused our attention to the survey and getting it out to our community. We also, and still do, field phone calls from our community on what we should be focusing on. Our community is looking forward to seeing some of what is being planned and what is currently in our Plan, coming to fruition. Our Community Board Plan is a living and robust document meeting the aims and aspirations of our community. We are happy to discuss this.

With this information, and contributions from our community, the community board initially met electronically and later in person, with the help of Jayne Tidbury-Beer we collated our information and now present our community board plan to Council. It is the pleasure of the Waitara Community Board to present to Council the findings of our community board plan review and to have the opportunity to speak to this.

Jonathan Marshall, Chair

To contact your Waitara Community Board member or Ward Councillor click on the buttons below.

The values that underpin our collective aspiration for the Waitara Community Board area and support the achievement of this mission are:

Community / Hapori - People are at the centre of everything we do.

Cultural / Ahura - The collective cultures of the community are honored and respected.

Capital / Taonga - Strength and growth come from the resources and skills within our community.

The Waitara Community Board would like to see the following priorities furthered as part of the Long Term Plan commitments of the New Plymouth District Council.

Please note the points on the following maps are indicative only. All aspirations and issues are related to NPDC’s assets and facilities only but may be district-wide. No point is intended to indicate any aspirations or issues within private property.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, the Waitara Community Board began the review of the Plan and developed an online e-survey that provided proposed statements from the existing community board plan key focus areas and asked the respondents to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the statements. In addition to the questions, the survey provided opportunities for respondents to provide additional commentary about the issues or other matters that were not identified.

The survey was promoted by the community board and the New Plymouth District Council via their website, Facebook and Midweek. Hard copies were also available through the Waitara Library for a limited period following the easing of Level 3 lockdown restrictions.

157 people responded to the community survey. Respondents covered a broad demographic profile from across the Waitara Community Board area.

Whilst the review of this Community Board Plan has been a relatively short process, the process has been positive and has sought to be an inclusive as possible given the time constraints and environment caused by COVID-19 lockdown.

The Waitara Community Board recognises that this Plan is a journey; this is a living document and a living process. 

There are a number of ways that community board initiatives can be funded:

• Through general rate funding. The Council decides on the share of general rate funding provided to projects identified by community boards. All decisions on investment in new facilities and major upgrades of facilities are made by Council.
• By leveraging involvement of other partners such as the private sector, community and other public sector agencies.

The Waitara Community Board has prioritised the aspirational projects it will put forward for funding in the Long-term Plan, taking into account what the community has told us.  The prioritization is shown in this document and will be further supported by a submission to the Long-term Plan through the statutory consultation process to be held in March 2021.

In addition to the issues that have been highlighted in this plan, the Waitara Community Board are aware that its role extends far beyond advocating for infrastructure and service improvements. There is a community advocacy role for the community board to undertake. There are many issues where the Council may not have direct control, but because the community board members have been elected to represent their community, there is an expectation that they will be a voice for the community. Therefore the Waitara Community Board is committed to advocating for the wider issues to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of its community.

In working towards the vision, aspirations and issues that have emerged from this process, the Waitara Community Board is looking forward to the next stage of the journey; a journey that will afford them opportunities to work in close partnership with fellow community board members in Kaitake, Clifton and Inglewood; with iwi and hapū; with business and community organisations; and groups across the community board area and with the dedicated and committed individuals that call the Waitara Community Board area their home. 

 Click here  for Inglewood, Kaitake and Clifton Community Board Plans

Many of the comments received through the survey were issues that could have been dealt with via a service request direct to the New Plymouth District (for Council assets and issues) or Waka Kotahi NZTA (for State Highway issues).

For Council issues there are four ways to report an issue:

Via phone: 06 759 6060 (available 24/7)

Via email:  enquiries@npdc.govt.nz 

Via NPDC's website:  Report an Issue 

Via "New Plymouth in Your Pocket App" which you can download for free via one of the following buttons:

For Android:

For Iphones/Ipads:

To report an issue on a State Highway by calling 0800 4 highways (0800 44 44 49); or

Click on the button below to submit via the Waka Kotahi NZTA website.