Community Board notes
The role of the Community Board is to advocate on your behalf to Council to let them know what is happening locally and where there might be opportunities to improve or enhance the town and surrounding rural areas. We take this role very seriously and put a lot of work in to researching, analysing and submitting to the SWDC Annual and Long Term Plan processes.
We have been disappointed with the response to our recent Annual Plan submission. Most of our submission met a negative response from Council. This included our requests for a full review of the zoning and town boundary, increased annual budget for footpaths and crossings, Ultra fast Broadband for the library and Waihinga Centre as part of a joint initiative with the Medical Centre and local businesses, funding for the development of Considine Park as per the Management Plan for the park, the waiver of Council fees for community events such as Guy Fawkes and the Christmas Parade, an improved website and email database for improved communications with ratepayers and several other minor items. We were pleased to see Council support for free swimming and the allocation of some of this year’s roading budget to footpath maintenance.
We understand that the Council has few funds and wishes to minimise any rates increases however our area is experiencing a lot of growth and we have to respond to this – it is really important that we plan for growth and ensure that it happens in a positive way. We have a lack of housing and land available and it is our view that this needs to be addressed with some urgency. We urge the council to take the long term view – to prioritise a review of the district plan, policies and funding that will ensure our community has the resources is needs to grow positively.
It is very encouraging to see that Community Boards and Maori Standing Committee representatives have been invited to join Councillors in development of the Council’s Long Term Plan. We hope that this inclusive approach to Planning will deliver better outcomes for our communities and the district as a whole. Following the success of our recent Town Beautification survey we will be engaging widely with the Martinborough Ward community for input into the Long Term Plan. Please have your say and tell us what is important to you.
Your Martinborough Community Board members are Lisa Cornelissen (Chair), Victoria Read (Deputy), Fiona Beattie, Maree Roy, Cllr Pam Colenso and Cllr Pip Maynard.
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