Wānaka ratepayers disillusioned after 'farcical' consultation

A community leader in Wānaka is frustrated pleas for the needs of the area to be prioritised in the council's next ten year plan appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Simon Telfer says "thousands of person hours" were spent by residents and ratepayers of Wānaka and Upper Clutha in anticipation that their concerns and ideas would influence the council's Long Term Plan.

"But all that effort led to no change at all," he says.

Mr Telfer, the chair of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board, says he has heard today from individuals representing local sports and arts and cultural groups, all which had taken the time to submit on the council's draft plan.

"I've had emails from deflated submitters today, sharing their disillusionment about a 'farcical process'. Next time there is a call for community engagement through consultation on a LTP, why would anyone bother?"

Mr Telfer thinks those he represents in his ward have proven themselves to be a particularly passionate and engaged bunch.

And he actively encouraged them to take part in the Long Term Plan process, knowing there were some key issues at stake for the community.

His guidance was "to unify around an issue and garner as many submissions in support as they could".

"But even this approach fell on deaf ears," he says.

"I’m really frustrated that the community’s time has not been respected or valued. Council looked like it was just going through the motions at the public hearings - an exercise in endurance."

The council received close to 1,000 submission on its plan - the majority of them from the Wānaka-Upper Clutha ward, with dozens choosing to speak to their submissions at a hearing held in Wānaka on Tuesday.

But at deliberations in Queenstown's Gorge Road council chambers yesterday, the mayor and councillors opted to not detour far from their flagged path forward.

Mr Telfer thinks the process undermines trust between the community and the council, and calls into question whether consultation was genuinely entered into with an "open mind" - a requirement of the Local Government Act.

"To maintain (the council's) credibility the whole approach to consultation needs to be revisited."

Mr Telfer was speaking to Crux in a personal capacity, rather than on behalf of the community board.

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