What is Ahu Ake?

Ahu Ake – Waipā Community Spatial Plan.

It is the first of its kind for Waipā and will act as a blueprint for our district for the next 30+years, mapping out what our towns and villages will look like, how we’ll move around, what services we’ll have available and how we’ll care for our environment among other things.

Community engagement: What did we hear?

From mid-February to late March 2023, we visited 11 towns and villages across the district and held 15 events where we spoke with hundreds of residents about our future.

We received around 1800 comments and surveys both online and at the 15 events we held across the district and gathered around 200 pieces of feedback via our social media channels.

We also received feedback through the many conversations we had with mana whenua representatives as well as 23 responses from community groups and organisations across Waipā.

In total, this was just under 2000 pieces of feedback which we will now use to further develop and refine our draft community spatial plan.

Thank you to those who provided feedback. Feedback has now closed however you can take a look at some of what people told us here. A full report of the feedback we received and how we will address it, will be available in the coming months.

What's happening next?

We’ll be back out later this year to share the updated draft spatial plan with you, after taking your feedback into consideration, so we can make sure we’ve got it right.

We’ll keep you updated as we progress with this project and look forward to speaking with you again as develop this important plan.

What's a spatial plan?

A spatial plan is a blueprint for Waipā that will provide the foundation for all future planning and investment by Council. Ultimately, it will help to determine what our district looks like in 30+ years time and map out how we get there.

Ahu Ake – Waipā Community Spatial Plan will consider things like whether we need more walking and cycling infrastructure in our towns and villages or parks and open spaces, whether we should allow for more development in our rural spaces or intensification in our town centres. It will map out how we are going to look after our environment and tackle climate change, how we are going to keep our economy thriving and attract more businesses to our district, and so much more.

The spatial plan will set out where we want to go and how we are going to get there, and from it we’ll know what we need to do to manage growth, what investment decisions we need to make and how we can ensure Waipā continues to be a great place to live, work, and play.

How is it used?

Ahu Ake – Waipā Community Spatial Plan will form the foundation of all other planning we carry out in the future including the Waipā 2050 Growth Strategy update, the Environment Strategy, the Economic Wellbeing Strategy, Long Term Plans, Annual Plans and more. It will set the strategic direction, while these and other topic-specific strategies fill in the details.

Creating a spatial plan is a big job, but one we are passionate about. As we move through this process, keep an eye out for regular updates and ways you can give feedback.