September 4, 2019

Award winning Community Engagement

by Sandra James in Community Engagement
Sandra James with the Waimakariri District Council

I was thrilled to be contracted as the Community Engagement lead and to be part of the award-winning team at Waimakariri District Council in 2017 when we won two very significant awards. 

We scooped up the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM) prestigious McGrady Winder SOLGM Local Government Excellence ® Supreme Award, while also claiming the award for Innovation in Council Community Relations, acknowledging the planning and community participation involved with developing the draft Waimakariri Red Zone Recovery Plan.

We realised the community were over the number of meetings and consultation Council had undertaken since the September 2010 earthquakes, and many local residents just wanted to see things happening on the ground. We took an innovative approach to show the proposed land uses in the five regeneration areas as interactive 3D models, and video flyovers and this really encouraged people to participate with their feedback and ideas. For Council this helped immensely with ensuring the proposed land uses reflected the community’s needs and aspirations for the regeneration areas.

Most importantly these awards were recognition of the Waimakariri community who contributed their ideas and feedback during the Council’s consultation phases for the Recovery Plan during 2015 and 2016. Community involvement ranged from primary school children through to the elderly, residents from within Kaiapoi, The Pines Beach, Kairaki and surrounding areas had their say, as did central Government, infrastructure providers, Ngai Tahu and Ngai Tūāhuriri. This is what true success is to me – seeing so many people, from all sectors of the community, and all ages participating in meaningful, genuine processes that are designed to truly reflect community views and aspirations.

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