Hi Jan,

Yes I have read Essentially Waiheke.  It is a relatively high level document that sets out the principles for a \'strategic direction\' for Waiheke. It is great that community involvement in the preparation of it means that it still has wide community support and endorsement. I think there is a danger we could water down the general good feeling for this document by revisiting it.  Let\'s build on the general consensus this document represents.

Rather than reviewing the document I think the next step is to prepare an implementation plan or action plan or spatial plan that gives effect to Essentially Waiheke.  This could be the basis for our \'Local Plan\'. There are alot of good examples we could draw on for what this would look like. I have many ideas I would be eager to discuss with the Local Board and the wider community. Basically my thoughts are that whilst the objectives and policies in the District Plan are generally consistent with Essentially Waiheke - the District Plan is purely a regulatory plan.  What we need is a more proactive plan that ensures the public and private sector delivers what we want.

Thank you for your question.

Marijke

Hi Jan

I have read \"Essentially Waiheke\" and think it is a great document to which we can work together as a community to agree on a collective vision. What needs to happen now is rather than it being ignored it needs to gain some teeth and become an active document.

Thanks for this question Jan.  My comments on the document are below.  Thank you for pointing this out and having me re read the document.

The document needs to be revisited by the new board and could form a very important first step in its future planning and budgetting saving a lot of time and effort.  Its the kind of document that the public can understand and relate to and measure the success or failure of the implementation of council plans and policies against.

It is outdated in terms of growth predictions.  With the likely ongoing downturn in world economies continued growth is unlikely and it is very possible there will be shrinkage and developers turn their attention away from Waiheke as being too hard to be economically viable.

The general principles are very good and I would have them in a priority order, of course my first would be preservation and anhancement of the island\'s character.  It\'s definetly a good time to monitor the strategy

The document is weak on weed control for protection of natural areas possibly because of uncertainty about the use of herbicides on Waiheke

The Priciples of Economic Dev are very weak and need much more work.  There are many ideas for the improvement of local businesses that need to be brought forward.

The plan speaks of affordable housing and yet the cost of building an affordable house has escalated to the point where a friend of mine has paid out $20k before putting a spade in the ground! This is outrageous.

Part 2

We don\'t need a new village and such a village would run the danger of overtaxing our infrastructure and taking away from existing businesses struggling to get enough work

Part 3

the containment of storm water is an option that is yet to be looked at properly for gaining water supplies

Investigation and promotion of waterless human waste disposal is severely lacking.  New houses find themselves needlessly burdened with hugely costly wastewater system as a consequence.

the Solid Waste principles were trashed by the TPI travesty

I have yet to see much evidence of the city encouraging alternative power generation.

The thorough assessment of cell phone tower locations has been conveniently forgotten

The council has ensured that our halls are being used to the minimum by overcharging for their use!

Council has utterly failed to do anything about affordable housing on the island.  However, wealthy landowners seem to be able to easily pay their pay around discretionally activiites when building.

The transport section is not effective, much more thought needs to be put into this.   Our public transport is truly awful and the council has achieved nothing

The city did buy back Matiatia at great uneccessary cost because they sold it in the first place.  We are not to be saddled with the fallout from this terribly corrupt outcome.

Dear Jan,

I am familiar with Essentially Waiheke and it\'s purpose.

I value the document.

Thanks for your question.

Paul

Hi Jan,

I have read the updated 2005 version of the Essentially Waiheke Strategic Plan. This is an important document for the island as it represents the highest degree of consensus from island residents. Some of my thoughts are that it is time, especially in light of coming changes in governance, to revisit the plan, with a special focus on sustainability. I would support a series of meetings to work through the plan with the community to make sure it progresses and also reflects the views of the wider community. I would like the plan to be adopted formally by the local board.

Please let me know if you have further questions,

Millie Watkins