Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION FROM THE MAYOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVEThe journey continues...Introduction from the Mayor and Chief ExecutiveWelcome to the ongoing journeyof our Long-Term CouncilCommunity Plan (LTCCP). Thisten-year Plan is our roadmap forthe future of the Waikato District.We started the journey in 2004with the fi rst LTCCP. This Planfollows a similar format, howeverwe have also reviewed ourfi nancial future for the next 10years in more depth.Council is required to producethis Plan on behalf of thecommunity under the LocalGovernment Act 2002. It showsthe community’s expectations andhow Council will work to achievethese goals.In 2005 we worked with thecommunity on the ChoosingFutures consultation programmeto ask residents what kind ofdistrict they wanted to be living inthroughout future years. The goalof the consultation programmewas to establish a set of‘Community Outcomes’ and nineOutcomes were decided.The Outcomes contribute toand promote the environmental,cultural, social and economic wellbeingof the community.This LTCCP outlines Council’sresponse to these ‘CommunityOutcomes’, and how it willcontribute to the achievement ofthem.We have been working closelywith local communities overrecent years to develop localisedCommunity Plans. In the past year,we have completed CommunityPlans for Matangi, Eureka andNewstead and we are going to beproducing plans for Meremere,Tauwhare, Glen Afton/Pukemiro,and Glen Massey during the nextyear.The information gained throughthe community planning processesis vital to Council as it enablesspecifi c consultation with eachof the communities in order toidentify key issues and prioritiesfor the future.Council has allocated a signifi cantamount of funding towardscommunity development and thishas seen town development takeplace in Raglan, Ngaruawahia, TeKowhai, Huntly, Te Kauwhata andMeremere.Transportation continues to beCouncil’s single largest area ofexpenditure. We are currentlyfaced with the diffi cult task ofprioritising our budget due toincreasing construction costsimpacting on both roadingexpenditure and the developmentof our services and facilities.We are continuing with our sealextension programme, and theroads to be sealed or preparedfor seal in future years are listed inthe Transportation section of thisdocument.We are currently undertakingsignifi cant roading upgradesthroughout the district. Ourtransportation network comprisesmore than 1660 kilometres ofroad and because of the demand,we have had to employ additionalengineering staff to maintainservice standards.2 THE ROAD AHEAD - LONG-TERM COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLAN 2006-2016