Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Focus on long-term direction, engage the best examples for region instead of just repeating past. Represent and engage all public groups.

Evaluate community requirements for the bigger picture and everyday essentials. Support decisions conferring the greatest public good.

Where ever possible, activities and expenditure to be in line with the new long-term plan even if just an incremental step towards it.

Resist central government's drive to take control of local assets away from local people. Local government NZ has let us down in this regard.

Promote opportunities for community engagement in decisions that affect where they live, work and play.

Commitment to Te Tiriti partnership, participation and protection across everything, embracing co-governance.

Consult and engage with even the hardest to reach in our community with accessible consultation processes, respecting and listening.

Ensuring Bay of Plenty Regional Council is the place to be for diversity of employees – excellent workplace culture, engaged and happy staff.

Focus on the pros and cons of one amalgamated Western Bay of Plenty Unitary Council and consider them thoroughly in the government reform process.

Ensure the voice of iwi and hapū is heard in our decision-making that facilitates strong Māori cultural wellbeing.

Engage with our diverse community in regard to the proposed local government reforms, to give input to the reform process.

Reinstate local governance that listens to then represents our people rather than the ideology of unelected bureaucrats and NGO's.

Reduce cumbersome levels of bureaucracy creating a more efficient of a streamlined local representative government and decreasing costs.

Continue to work collaboratively with Māori as a key contributors to strategic direction and leadership in our region.

Ensure council engage with representative sample of the community so that we meet the needs of our region's communities.

Prioritise one person, one vote. We need to return to genuine democracy.

Co-governance, based on population, not ethnicity is a workable model. 50/50 co-governance in Tauranga is undemocratic.

Listen to the public and base decisions around their opinion and financial reality.

Ethnic representation should be proportional to the population mix.

Structure council wages in line with the private sector including working conditions.

Your voice matters. Provide multiple options in person and digital for public engagement regarding council process and public participation.

Digital communication tools for Public Transport for public ideas and innovation to enable people driven network providing for their needs.

Take time to listen and walk with Māori. Improve connections with ethnic communities. Joint committees for cross-organisation collaboration.

Change all engagement to engage at the pre policy development stage and work together on local and regional solutions and actions.

Invest in capability for iwi and communities to engage and participate in a functional and meaningful way as well as citizen juries.

Pay council employees the market rates for their skillsets and create a supportive culture which drives their passion in their work.