Waikato Spatial Plan Briefing Pack 26Aug14 · 127 Hukanui Rd • P.O.Box 12760 Chartwell Hamilton...

127 Hukanui Rd • P.O.Box 12760 Chartwell Hamilton 3248 • Ph: 07 855 8089 • Fx: 07 855 8049

email: [email protected]

WAIKATO STRATEGIC PLANNERS NETWORK

THE WAIKATO SPATIAL PLAN

BACKGROUND

Spatial planning is about shaping the future environment to enable people and communities to

thrive. For the Waikato, this means speaking with a collective voice on high priority strengths,

challenges and opportunities that affect our communities, and coordinating the efforts of

stakeholders, local and central government.

The concept of a spatial plan for the Waikato has been developing since May 2013. The project has

been framed around Section 79 of the Local Government Auckland Council Act, and this will form the

basis of completing the Spatial Plan.

The Waikato Mayoral Forum completed Phase 1 of the project in March 2014, which focused on an

evidence base across the 4-wellbeings. The summary report from Phase One of the spatial plan,

along with the supporting background technical reports, can be found at the following website.

http://mpdc.govt.nz/index.php/councillors-mayor/waikato-mayoral-forum

All local authorities (with the exception of Thames Coromandel District Council) have committed to

progressing towards plan development and completion. Participating local authorities have

constituted a Joint Committee under schedule 7 of the Local Government Act comprising of one

appointment from each local authority and 5 non-local government members. One of the non-local

government members shall be nominated as the independent chairperson.

We are here

Date: 26 August 2014

Project No: 051302 2

OUTCOMES OF THE SPATIAL PLAN

The Waikato Spatial Plan aims to be the collective voice for the Waikato Region on high priority issues,

challenges and opportunities that affect the regional community.

The Spatial Plan will:

• Set a strategic direction for the Waikato and its communities.

• Outline a high level development strategy that identifies settlement, infrastructure and

service needs.

• Provide an evidential basis to support policy and investment decision making within the

Waikato.

• Enable coherent and co-ordinated decision making by the local authorities, central

Government and other parties to determine the future location and timing of critical

infrastructure, services, and investment within the Waikato.

• Provide a basis for aligning the implementation plans, regulatory plans and funding

programmes of local government and strategic partner agencies.

PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS

A summary report was endorsed by the Waikato Mayoral Forum in March 2014, and identified the

following high priority strengths, challenges and opportunities for the Waikato.

Strengths

• The Waikato is a nationally significant transport juncture with

connections to Auckland and Tauranga

• The Waikato makes significant contribution to national

economy through important industry sectors

• Hamilton is the Waikato centre for innovation, employment

and services

Challenges

• The Waikato is experiencing declining rural populations and

associated decline in services

• An ageing population and shrinking skill base

• Declining water quality and competition for water allocation

• Economic inequalities across the region

Opportunities

• Maximising opportunities, including investment, through

aligned planning

• Māori economic participation and investment offers

significant potential for the Waikato region

• Connectivity to the Upper North Island



POTENTIALLY DESIRABLE ACTIONS

The Spatial Plan will be action orientated, with potentially desirable actions including:

• Strategic responses to declining rural populations in partnership with central government

agencies. This might include pursuing economic development opportunities, changing

models for service delivery to communities and pursuing opportunities for co-location of

facilities, infrastructure and services.

• Aligning water supply allocation more closely to an agreed regional settlement pattern to

ensure growth in our urban towns and cities is appropriately provided for.

• Reforming the regulatory framework with the Waikato to:

o Reduce 640+ policies, plans, bylaws and strategies (the planning framework)

currently held within the Waikato, and

o Improve consistency of approach to land use and infrastructure development

between local authorities.

• Improving engagement with Crown Agencies on service delivery to reduce duplication of

effort and ensure a “whole of government” response to high priority regional issues.

• Improving connections between key industry sectors and a skilled labour force required to

maintain our export focused economy.

• Provide an evidence base to inform debates on potential reform of local government in the

Waikato.

ROLE OF THE SPATIAL PLAN JOINT COMMITTEE

The Joint Committee is charged with the responsibility for overall guidance on and further

development of the Waikato Spatial Plan including the following stages, noting that Stage 1 is

complete:

• WSP : Stage 2 – Fill knowledge and research gaps

• WSP : Stage 3 – Community engagement on key issues

• WSP : Stage 4 – Plan formation and engagement

• WSP : Stage 5 – Special Consultative process, including hearings

• WSP : Stage 6 – Consideration and adoption.

The Joint Committee is comprised of 15 members; one member from each of the 10 participating

local authorities and five sector members including an independent chairperson and an Iwi / Maori

representative. The sector representatives will be appointed by the local government

representatives.

An informal meeting of the local Joint Committee took place on Thursday August 7th. The first

formal meeting will take place in the week of 15th September.

A workshop session on “what does success look like” was run, and they key themes were:



VISION

• Provide a clear vision of the future.

• Making a meaningful difference for our communities.

• Delivering real tangible benefits to the region.

• Sustainability of our individual communities.

• Long term need to encourage economic growth and cut barriers.

• A thriving Hamilton urban centre surrounded by successful / productive districts.

• Clear sense of what we want to become.

Potential outcomes

• Identify nationally significant projects (e.g. roading)

• Maintain core community services in rural communities (doctor, dentist etc)

• Need to entice businesses to small towns.

• De-centralisation of Auckland businesses south.

• National incentives for business growth and opportunities for rural communities

• A fair spread of Central Government services

• Clear indication of Government funding.

• A fair flow of investment funds, not just to centre but outwards.

• Retain our young people

• Need to retain educated youth within the Waikato.

• Tourism must not to be taken away from each other.

• Suitable infrastructure (risk management), in particular with regards to roading

• Sustainable water management linked to Waikato River.

• Consistent simple planning in future plans so we have consistency and long term certainty

• Aligning all those 640+ plans

• Reduce policies and bylaws and provide consistent plans.

• Consistency of plans and rules to drive business efficiency.

The Joint Committee were clear about the need for a clear direction, strategic responses for all

communities and reducing duplication and inconsistency within the planning framework.

Waikato Spatial Plan Implementation

The Committee does not have any specific role or responsibility in relation to the practical and

detailed implementation of the WRSP. This is a matter that will be determined by the Councils at

the appropriate time.



PROJECT GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

Client representative

The CEO of Waipa DC will be the client representative for this project. They will be responsible for

all contracting and project management decisions on behalf of the project

Strategic Partners Forum

A strategic partner’s forum will represent the non-local government partners who influence delivery

of the project outcomes, and will include government and non-governmental agencies.

Their primary objective is to ensure the implementation actions required of Crown and Partner

agencies are appropriately scoped and identified in the spatial plan, and that agreed actions are

implemented.

The Project Director will chair this group.

Project Director

James Bevan has been appointed the independent project director and responsible for providing

coordinated advice to the Joint Committee and assisting the Joint Committee to develop and

implement the strategic intent of the Waikato Spatial Plan and chairing the Strategic Partners forum.

Project Delivery Structure

The project delivery structure requires greater consideration in light of the opportunities being

offered by Central Government, and is currently being developed in greater detail. All technical

inputs required for project establishment are in progress and will be completed by 30th August. These

include:

• A set of common population and household projections across the Waikato Region. These

will be completed to CAU level for future years 2021, 2031, 2041 and 2051, and annually at

TA level out to 2063



• A set of common industry and employment projections to the same projection period as

outlined above.

• A communications strategy and plan

• Other published baseline reports completed in Phase one.

Planning Staff Involvement

Council planning staff are presently involved in the demographic and industry sector forecasts, and

a recent workshop have advanced these forecasts and identified strategic responses to changing

demographics as a key focus for the spatial plan. Discussion points included:

• Spatially we don’t want the region to divide into the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’

• We need strategic responses to: - population decline, deprivation

• Can we balance growth better

• Planning for more economic activity within the deprived areas?

• If we don’t have conversations and make pro-active changes, shut-downs and cuts will be

forced upon areas.

• Long term affordability will be a key issue

• If population is decreasing in the long run we should be decreasing areas of benefit or

changing how we work.

• In some districts, how do we manage the peak in population growth, and then subsequent

projected decline?

• This work is not about RMA planning but a wider perspective on community wellbeing

• Need to find a balance between the 4 well beings (cultural, environmental, social, and

economic).

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENT

Central Government is our biggest investment partner in our communities. For every $1 local

government invests, Central Government invests $8. In 2012, central government expenditure

equated to approximately $7b1 of investment in the Waikato Region, comprised primarily of:

• Social welfare $2,286M

• Health $1,308M

• Education $1,013M

• Core services $364M

• Law and order $342M

• Transport + comms $233M

• Defence $213M

• Economic Dev $167

Central Government engagement to date has primarily centred on Treasury’s National Infrastructure

Unit (NIU) and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and a meeting held in

Auckland recently committed to progressing with a joint Waikato / Central Govt workshop on

1 NZIER, 2013 “Regional Government Expenditure – estimates of crown spending by region”



evidence base for common planning. This meeting is scheduled to occur by the end of September,

and this is likely to include representatives from Education, Health,

The National Infrastructure Units (NIU) is interested due to their role in coordinating, planning and

direction for New Zealand’s national infrastructure. This engagement has highlighted:

1. A willingness to engage and coordinate central government input into the Waikato Spatial

Plan project

2. Acknowledgement that many of the Mayoral Forum projects (Roading Collaboration, Waters

business case, Sport Facilities Plan and the Spatial Plan) are well aligned to officials views on

more efficient service delivery.

3. A set of expectations on what a Waikato Spatial Plan should seek to achieve.

4. A specific interest in greater collaboration around planning and infrastructure investment

aligned to an overarching vision or collective view.

The next National Infrastructure Plan is due to be published in mid-2015. A critical success factor for

this next Plan is building it from a stronger foundation of data and has broad agreement across

infrastructure stakeholders, local government and the private sector as well as central government.

There is potential for the Waikato Spatial Plan to feed up into the next National Infrastructure Plan,

particularly for the larger or more significant infrastructure elements that are of relevance or impact

at a national level, and would include:

• Longer term thinking on service levels in areas of population decline.

• Future demand projections and the implications these will have for levels of services and

infrastructure

• How the major transport networks are aligned with land use planning

• A prioritised list or plan of key infrastructure investments that will be made and when

• The key roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder going forward, including central

government

The desired outcome of this engagement will be closer working relationships between local

authorities and Central Government on service delivery. In the Bay of Plenty region, the model they

have chosen is ‘Collaboration BOP’2 which has been established to promote the achievement of local

and regional community aspirations and priorities through co-operation, collaboration and efficient

use of resources.

COMMUNITY SECTOR PARTICIPATION

Community sector paricipation has been limited to sport and creative facilities, with two plans

driven from Sport Waikato and Creative Waikato respectively.

2 Refer: http://www.cobop.govt.nz/



Waikato Sport Facilities Plan

Sport Waikato, with support from the Waikato Mayoral Forum, have completed a Regional Sports

Facilities plan following two months of stakeholder engagement. This Plan is an example of

community driven initiative that aims to:

• Provide an evidence based strategy for delivering sporting facilities

• Provide a clear outline of priorities for the Waikato

• Informs local and regional decision making

• Provides an opportunity for improved partnerships

The two-month consultation process was undertaken with local authorities, charitable funders and

regional sporting organisations. The findings of this plan will inform the Waikato Spatial Plan, and

includes initiatives such as:

• Identified national, regional and sub-regional facilities

• Priority strategic investment for community wellbeing over the next 5-10 years.

• Greater collaboration approach between charitable funders, local government and central

government

• A joint facility investment process for national, regional and sub-regional facilities to

coordinate investment.

Waikato Creative Facilities Plan

Creative Waikato is leading the development of a Waikato Regional Creative Facilities Plan. This Plan

will provide a clear picture of existing arts facilities and infrastructure in the region, identify sector

needs, provide gap analysis and deliver a clear direction for future arts infrastructure development

requirements.

The Creative Facilities Plan will provide a mechanism for the Creative Sector to successfully engage

in the Waikato Spatial Planning project and subsequently guide planning and investment for the

Creative Sector.

An independent consultant has been appointed to undertake the research and plan development.

The draft plan was presented to the Project Steering Group on 13th August 2014, and provides a

framework for the Spatial Plan project to engage with the Creative Sector.

LONG TERM PLANS

The Long Term Plans have been identified as significant opportunity for the Spatial Plan project as a

way of not only modelling regional collaboration, but also to provide an efficient vehicle for

community engagement.

Practical elements being progressed by the local authorities are:

1. LTPs will work off a common set of population and economic forecasts being developed

(where feasible). This means a common data set will inform:

a. Settlement and land use pattern reviews

b. 30-year infrastructure planning



c. Development contributions and rating policy reviews

d. Supporting discussions with political leaders

2. Each LTP will contain a common ‘regional context’ section to be drafted by the Joint

Committee and that enables spatial plan engagement with our communities. This statement

will provide a link between the spatial plan work programme and each Council’s LTP and help

ensure Councillors are engaged in spatial planning as part of their everyday activities.

NEXT STEPS

• 30th August: Draft report on the common population, household, industry and employment

projections will be complete

• 5th September: Communications strategy and plan completed

• 15th September: Joint Committee meeting to consider:

o Baseline data and evidence base and next steps

o Non-local government appointments to the Joint Committee

o Communications strategy and plan

o Draft scope for the spatial plan

By the end of September, a draft project scope will be agreed with the Joint Committee and a tender

document will be ready for progressing to secure a lead consultant.

An outline project programme is contained in Appendix A, which aims to complete the Spatial Plan

by the end of 2015.



WORKSHOP DISCUSSION – A TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

A core local authority technical team is needed to successfully support and deliver this project. A

request has been placed through to each CEO to nominate staff members from participating local

authorities to engage in this project. To date we have received the following nominations:

Garry Dyet Waipa DC

Cindy Kent Waipa DC

Tracey May Waikato RC

Urlwyn Trebilco Waikato RC

Paul Gower Hamilton CC

Hannah Windle Hamilton CC

Brian Croad Hamilton CC

Vishal Ramduny Waikato DC

Vibhuti Chopra Waitomo DC

Michelle-Staines Hawthorne Matamata-Piako DC

Andrew Loe Otorohanga DC

Nick Carrol Taupo DC

Charan Mischewski Hauraki DC

Sth Waikato DC

The scope of activities for this team will be to:

• To be an advocate and active communicator for the project within their Council

• To provide technical advice and support to the project lead consultant

• To be actively involved in agreeing evidence and strategic direction in collaboration with

participating central government agencies

• To support the local authority Joint Committee member in workshops and consideration of

technical data

Target list of deliverables:

• Agreed scope document for the Waikato Spatial Plan built off the Phase 1 documents and

agreed strategic priorities

• A common statement on “Waikato Context” is included in the LTP for each participating

council

• The Draft Spatial Plan is approved by participating Councils for public engagement

• The final version of the spatial plan is adopted by each participating council

Workshop Outcomes:

1. Confirmed list of participants from each local authority

2. Confirmed scope of technical working group

3. Confirmed list of deliverables for this group

4. Communication needs / channels



CONCLUSIONS

The Waikato Spatial Plan is an opportunity to shape the future for the Waikato region, and its long

term role in the national and global environment.

The Joint Committee will be responsible for preparing the strategic vision and development strategy,

leading engagement with Central Government and setting the high priority strategic actions on

behalf of the Waikato.

Attachment A: Outline Project Plan



Tasks Complete July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept

Common Evidence Base March_14

Project Establishment

Fill Knowledge Gaps

Population projections

Economic projections

Business as usual mapped

Alternative scenarios

Costing of scenarios

Community Engagment (TBC from Comms Plan)

Strategic partner forum

Crown

Iwi

LTP's

Your Waikato

etc

Draft Plan Formulation

Regional overview

Vision, Objectives, Goals

Strategy

Actions

Implementation plan

Supporting docs

Special Consultative Procedure

Feedback

Hearings

Recommend for adoption

Councils adopt

Project Timeline for the Waikato Spatial Plan

1 2 3 4 5 6Community

Engagement on Key

Issues

Plan Formulation

and Engagement

Special Consultative

Process

Hearings and

Adoption

Fill Knowledge and

Research Gaps

Common Evidence

Base within Region

Waikato Spatial Plan Briefing Pack 26Aug14 · 127 Hukanui Rd • P.O.Box 12760 Chartwell Hamilton...

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Transcript of Waikato Spatial Plan Briefing Pack 26Aug14 · 127 Hukanui Rd • P.O.Box 12760 Chartwell Hamilton...