Help shape Te Puna's future
Wednesday, 1 November 2017
A 10 year community plan for Te Puna is being drafted by a group of residents - and they need your help.
A Te Puna group, known as the Connectors and led by Karen Summerhays, has been building a framework of actions to be put in place over a three, six and nine-year timeframe.
A community open day to discuss the plan is to be held this Saturday, 11 November 2017 from 12noon until 2pm at the Te Puna School Hall.
The plan belongs to the residents of Te Puna and records their hopes for their community and identifies a priority list of actions.
Many communities in the Western Bay District have developed plans for guiding their future progress. The Te Puna Plan builds on work already done by other local groups including the Heartlands Incorporated Society and the Pirirakau Hapu's Management Plan
The plan is also an important reference for Council, other community groups and non-government agencies in the planning of work programmes.
Community Relationships Adviser Glenn Ayo says Te Puna is a horticultural and agricultural community interspersed with significant tribal lands that is faced with residential development, commercial and industrial growth.
"This community plan is about people taking ownership for the way their community is shaped. That includes residents, business people and tangata whenua.
"This is their community - many families have lived in the area for a long time. With the changes happening around them it is their time to have a say in the way Te Puna responds.''
The Connectors group, responding to input already gathered from residents, is working on what's best for the whole Te Puna community in the foreseeable future.
The Connectors want to know if Te Puna people think the plan is on the right track and are asking them for help in prioritising what needs to happen first.
We welcome you to drop in to the open day at the school hall on Saturday and share your views.
The first draft of the community plan is online now at haveyoursay.westernbay.govt.nz/tepunacommunityplan - we welcome your feedback.
