Talking to West Coast communities

See Latest: Summary of West Coast Feedback (12 August 2016)

Media release: Commission releases community feedback, next steps (12 August 2016)

West Coast Local Government Arrangements – Summary of Community Feedback, August 2016 (PDF, 1MB)

What did the Commission want to talk about?

The Commission wanted to talk to the West Coast community about:

What the big challenges and opportunities are on the West Coast
What the community likes about the current way their councils are set up and the way services are delivered
Whether there is anything about the current way that councils are set up and the way services are delivered, that the community would like to change
Whether there are any council services the community thinks would be better delivered over a wider area as shared services by existing councils
Whether some councils should be combined.

How was the West Coast community able to talk to the Commission?

West Coast residents and ratepayers were able to attend community workshops in the evening and community drop-in sessions during the day to talk to Commission representatives.

The Commission was on the West Coast hosting drop-in sessions and workshops in June as below:

Day/date	Drop-in sessions (12.00pm – 3.30pm)	Community workshops (7pm start)
Wed 15 June	Karamea i-Site	Karamea Bowling Club
Thu 16 June	Reefton i-Site	Reefton St John Meeting Rooms
Mon 20 June	Fox Glacier Emergency Services Centre	Franz Josef Medical Centre
Tue 21 June	Haast Hall	Haast Hall
Thu 23 June	Hokitika Westland District Library	Hokitika St John Meeting Rooms
Tue 28 June	Greymouth Grey District Library
Wed 29 June	Westport i-Site	Westport Bridge Club
Thu 30 June	Greymouth Grey District Library	Greymouth Kingsgate Hotel

People were also able to fill in a short online questionnaire

What happens next?

The Commission has collated the feedback and that is now available in the report West Coast Local Government Arrangements: Summary of Community Feedback, August 2016.

The Commission has decided there is a sufficient level of community support for continuing to consider some change in local government arrangements on the West Coast. The next step in the process will be for the Commission to call for alternative applications for local government change options. This is scheduled for February 2017 when new councils are up and running. At the same time the Commission will provide an outline of potential change options developed from community feedback and through the Commission’s work with West Coast councils. People may wish to comment on these and make their own proposals.

Further information

Questions and answers