The Ashburton Community Plan

In 2004 Ashburton District Council adopted its first Community Plan for the years 2004 to 2014.  This plan sets out a ten year program for the future of the district and contained information on the activities and services the Council would provide to assist Ashburton’s development over the next decade.

The Council was required to produce a Community Plan under the Local Government Act 2002.  The Community Plan is different to previous plans the Council developed in that it encouraged the Council to take a long term view of the management of its assets and services and plan for the maintenance and renewal of these over a longer timeframe. 

The Council is currently reviewed its existing Community Plan and is required to prepare a revised  plan for the years 2006 – 2016, which will be available for public consultation in April 2006. 

The Annual Plan & Budget

The information included in the Community Plan reflects the Council’s best estimates of the services that will need to be provided over the next ten years and the expected cost of this at the time the plan was published.  Because circumstances change over time, the Council needs to have the ability to respond to new developments as they arise and reconsider the proposals included in the Community Plan.   In ten years time, the issues facing the Council may be very different to those today. 

Under the Local Government Act, in the years when a Council does not prepare a Community Plan, it prepares and consults on an Annual Plan.  The focus of consultation on an Annual Plan is on expenditure for that year and any changes from information included in the Community Plan.  The focus of Community Plan consultation is on the activities being proposed over the long term and whether the community supports the Council’s general direction.    

Ashburton Community Vision

During 2005 the Council held a series of meetings with key agencies and community groups to talk about the issues and priorities they thought were important for the district over the next few years.  Over 100 people attended these meetings at which around 70 different groups and agencies were represented.  The Council also surveyed local residents and received comments from over 600 people on a wide range of issues relating to the community, and looked at survey information it already had to find out residents views.  From this information it prepared a Community Vision document with specific objectives which set out information about the way residents would like the district to be and the issues residents consider are priorities for the future. 

The Council is now looking at what it intends to do to help achieve the community’s objectives and will consult on this through its 2006 -2016 Community Plan, which will be released for public consultation in April 2006.