On this page
What are community outcomes?
How can I be involved?
More about the Choosing Futures Waikato process
Making it happen
Monitoring progress
What is happening now
It's about all of us talking about what we want our region to be - community outcomes - and working together to achieve this. Choosing Futures Waikato is about our communities.
What are community outcomes?
Community outcomes are statements of what communities want to achieve now and in the future. These desired outcomes will help guide groups and organisations delivering community services by giving direction on community aspirations and priorities.
The Local Government Act (LGA) 2002 requires all local and regional councils to facilitate processes to identify community outcomes at least every six years. Councils will use these desired outcomes to guide the development of their Long-Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP). Councils developed their first LTCCP in 2004 using existing community information to define community outcomes.
Community outcomes are identified through community consultation. To view the community outcomes for the Waikato click here.
Councils, community groups and other organisations then work together to see how they will contribute to achieving these outcomes.
How can I be involved?
In the Waikato, all councils have been consulting local communities to find out their aspirations for their areas, and together, councils are finding out what Waikato communities want for their region as a whole. Many of these are now in draft or final form.
The Choosing Futures Waikato process is about identifying outcomes for the region. These outcomes have now been identified and will be presented in Environment Waikato's Long-Term Council Community Plan and referred to in the plans of your local council.
To find out more about what's going on in your local area you can contact your council . You can also check out events to find out more or contact us for more information.
All the information from local consultation will be included with the Choosing Futures Waikato process to give us a good picture of the community outcomes desired by the residents and ratepayers of the Waikato region.
More about the Choosing Futures Waikato process
The four steps below outline how community groups and organisations and regional residents and ratepayers got involved with identifying the community outcomes for the Waikato region.
- Visioning: Workshops have been held with key groups and organisations in the region and with a cross-section of regional residents and ratepayers. Information gained through local consultation will also contribute to the regional process. To view the workshop reports please click here.
- Organising: Information collected in the visioning step, community consultation processes and previous consultation will be organised into draft community outcomes statements.
- Reviewing: The draft community outcomes will be reviewed by representatives of the key groups and organisations. This will ensure the draft community outcomes are in line with knowledge of community expectations gained through consultation and through working in the community.
- Community review: Feedback will be sought from residents and ratepayers of the Waikato region through a community outcomes document and through a community survey. This step asks the community whether we have the community outcomes right and also asks the community to prioritise the outcomes.
Making it happen
We know councils are just one player in creating a better community, so we're asking central government and community organisations and agencies to be our partners in this process.
Now that the community outcomes for the region are identified, councils and other organisations can then look at strategies for working towards achieving our communities' goals.
Councils must decide how they can help achieve these goals. We'll look at opportunities to work closely with other organisations, service providers and community groups to ensure the resources of each community are used to best effect to achieve the desired goals. This process will guide the development of councils' Long-Term Council Community Plan in 2006.
Some of this will happen at a regional level and some at a local level - it's about finding the most effective way of delivering a better quality of life for our communities.
Choosing Futures Waikato is about a whole of community approach - central government, local government, community and individuals all working together to achieve common goals.
Monitoring progress
At least once every three years councils must report back to the community on progress that has been made towards achieving community outcomes. A Monitoring and Reporting Community Outcomes (MARCO) group has been formed comprising representatives from Waikato councils. This group has developed a core set of regional indicators during 2005-06 in consultation with key community groups and organisations.
What is happening now
There are many initiatives currently underway throughout the Waikato region to work towards existing community outcomes or to encourage sustainable development and sustainable approaches to our lifestyles.
One of these initiatives is Choosing Regional Futures. Click here to find out more.....