Community Outcomes

At a glance  

This section shows the link between community aspirations, district vision, organisational objectives and community outcomes and how these drive the Long-Term Plan (LTP) process, as well as the delivery of services to the community. The linkage is shown in the diagram below:-

 

Community aspirations

The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) requires local authorities to identify Community Outcomes for their districts. For the Far North, these create a picture of the type of district people want to live in over the next 0-15 years. A recent change to the LGA has altered the focus of the Community Outcomes.

In past years, the community outcomes were owned by the community and Council’s role was to show how it contributed towards them. Under the latest change to the legislation, Council now owns the outcomes, which makes them more focused on what Council does and can achieve on behalf of the community rather than the more aspirational outcomes which have been the feature of previous plans.

Council has based the new outcomes on the 2006 Community Outcomes, as we consulted on them widely with community groups and key organisations. Council has kept these original outcomes in the form of 7 community aspirations and used them to develop 3 outcomes for the things for which Council is responsible. These in turn have been used to underpin the LTP and inform the policy and asset management processes.

These 7 community aspirations can be summarised as:

  • Public health – key health issues are identified and addressed.
  • Public safety – community and visitors to the district feel safe and secure at any time of the day or night.
  • Transportation – transport networks are maintained and developed to enable access to and within the district.
  • Environment – the Far North’s built environment and infrastructure are further developed in a sustainable way which contributes to the wellbeing of people, communities and the natural environment now and into the future.
  • Education, training and business opportunities – opportunities in the Far North are sufficient to attract skilled professionals to the district and to reduce the number of young people leaving the area.
  • Services that support communities – the cohesiveness of our communities is maintained or increased by retaining the services they need.
  • Culture and heritage – having a strong and positive district identity that includes awareness and knowledge of the Far North’s unique heritage and history.

These aspirations continue to provide the overall guidance for Council and have formed the platform on which it has built the LTP.

Vision

Council has developed a new vision for the Far North: The top place where talent wants to live, work and invest.

This is about:

  • Attracting more skills, talent and investment to the district.
  • Retaining the skilled people already here and maintaining economic prosperity. 
  • Being competitive with other districts.

Values

Council developed three new values to drive work across the organisation on behalf of the community:

  • Enabling.
  • Enthusiasm.
  • Innovation.

Strategic objectives 

Council had 8 overarching objectives in the 2009/19 LTCCP and these remain unchanged for the current LTP. The strategic objectives are internal within the organisation to support the vision and values. However, since then most of the world including New Zealand has entered into a recession and a decision has been made to focus more on the 4 core objectives (in bold below) for the 2012/22 LTP. This does not mean that the other 4 have been abandoned.

  • Value for Ratepayers.
  • Provide economic development for the Far North.
  • Responding effectively to the growth of the district.
  • Investment in new infrastructure as and when affordable.
  • A leaner, more customer focused organisation.
  • Safeguarding our communities.
  • Improving the quality of life in the Far North.
  • Community development.

Council has determined these 3 proposed Community Outcomes that it will contribute to over the life of the Long-Term Plan:

A  safe and healthy district

A sustainable and liveable environment

A vibrant and thriving economy