Council takes top award
21 July 2015
Waipa District Council has won a national award for its campaign to engage the community in its 10- year Plan.
The Council's Let's Get Engaged' campaign encouraged early feedback into 10-year Plan proposals. Last night it beat all other entries to win the Fulton Hogan Excellence Award for Community Impact at the LGNZ Excellence Awards in Rotorua. The awards aim to recognise and celebrate the leadership role local government plays within communities across the country.
Judges recognised Waipa's efforts to use new media in innovative, exciting and entertaining ways to inform communities and gain feedback. They described the Waipa project as innovative, inclusive, energetic and focused.
As a result of the campaign, councillors made a number of changes to their original proposals released to the public in April. Nearly 500 submissions on the draft plan were received when it formally went out for public consultation.
Mayor Jim Mylchreest said it was challenging to engage the community on issues when people were busy or could not immediately see how an issue might impact on them or their families. It also meant councillors needed to be open to changing their minds and doing things differently.
This campaign, with its focus on social media and new ways of engaging really pushed everyone in the organisation. It meant talking about the good news as well as the bad which isn't always easy, he said.
But it was absolutely worth it because it allowed councillors to make much better, much more informed decisions that reflect what our community wants. At the end of the day, that's what we're here for.
LGNZ President Lawrence Yule said Waipa's campaign set a great example other councils could follow.
This project was a blueprint for increasing community participation in local government in New Zealand, bringing really constructive engagement in the long-term plan process, he said
View the application video here: