Kia Ora,

At the end of January, councillors, senior staff, and our incoming Chief Executive, Corin Haines, came together for two days of strategic planning.

As a team, we’re very conscious of doing things in an affordable way, so rather than heading to a traditional conference venue, we chose to stay local and make use of the Woodville Bowling Club. It proved to be an excellent space for what we needed, and it was a good reminder that we have many great venues across the Tararua District that we (and others) can use in future.

I had two key objectives going into the session. The first was for councillors and senior staff to start building strong working relationships, which will be an essential foundation to make good decisions and achieve the best outcomes for our communities. The second was to begin shaping our strategic priorities as a council.

During the election campaign, we heard clear and consistent messages from our community. They want to see us stay focused on the things that matter to them. With that in mind, we agreed on three overarching priority areas: affordability / efficiency, reputation / identity, and resilience / growth. We’ll go into more detail soon about what sits underneath each of them, but they will act as the lens we use when considering options and making decisions, particularly when we develop our next Long-term Plan (LTP).

The LTP won’t be adopted until 2027, but we have a huge amount of work ahead to get this right. It’s effectively our strategy and budget looking out to the next ten years, but it is redone every 3 years, which gives us an opportunity to step back, think differently, and consider significant changes where needed. It’s one of the most important things a council will do in a 3-year term, and we look forward to working with our community on its development.

There is still plenty of work ahead, and it is happening at a time when local government is facing a large wave of reform, including rates capping, defining council responsibilities and even council structures. Even so, I remain optimistic and excited about the opportunities in front of us and our capacity to deal with the challenges.

You have a council team that is focused, committed, and determined to achieve the best outcomes for the Tararua District. We know the responsibility that comes with that, and we are going to work our socks off to deliver for you.

Ngā mihi nui, many thanks.