1% - Waikato District Council

12NAVIGATING THE FUTURE | WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCILNavigatingthe planThe Long Term Plan defines howwe believe the council can, with thecommunity, help the Waikato districtprosper during the years ahead.The council’s vision is to be a recognised leader in creatinga district that prides itself on economic excellence, localparticipation and sustainable communities. You‘ll see throughoutthis document the elements community board and committeemembers along with other community groups see ascontributing to this vision for Waikato district.A vision can’t stand on its own, so we’ve also addressed howwe’re going to make it a reality. This section of the plan discussesthe forces and challenges we’re facing, as well as the moreimmediate issues that will have a long term effect.Then, our guiding principles (People, Energy, Economic) clarifywhat it is that guides our decisions. Central to these are theoutcomes our communities want, and the social, cultural,economic and environmental well-beings necessary for astrong district.We also have some strategic priorities (managing affordability,enabling economic development and valuing natural resources) thatalign to these guiding principles. There’s a lot we’d like to do, butwe can’t do it all, and have to stage what is done,when and where, keeping within our means, and in linewith our direction.Our eight groups of activities (see pages 47-103) contain thework programmes that bring it all alive. They include our targetsso we can measure what we do and how well we do it, andour timeframes.We also have to make some assumptions when deciding whatwe do – such as projections for population, because the censuswas postponed because of the Canterbury earthquakes, andfinancial assumptions – you can find out more about these onpages 18-32 in Volume Two.Guiding principlesENERGYECONOMYPEOPLEENERGYECONOMYPEOPLEENERGYECONOMYPEOPLEPEOPLE• Community engagement• Managing diversity, aspirationsand capability• Building relationshipsand partnershipsECONOMY• Encourage innovative thinking• Prudent financial management• Stimulate sustainable growthENERGY• Active leadership• Sustainable managementof natural resources• Empower