TEN YEAR PLANS * - ‘Q & A’ FACT SHEET

(*Long Term Council Community Plans or LTCCPs).

Why do councils prepare Ten Year Plans?

The Local Government Act (2002) requires local authorities to produce a Long Term Council Community Plan - LTCCP or Ten Year Plan as we call it and to review it every 3 years. The next major review will be prior to the start of the 2009-10 financial year.

What is the Ten Year Plan?

The Ten Year Plan describes the activities of the council and provides a long term focus for its decision-making. The plan discusses the first three years in detail and outlines the following seven years.

It includes:

• a statement of the community’s long term goals and priorities (community outcomes)
• information about activities provided by the council including the level of service the community can expect and their contribution towards each of the community outcomes
• a long term financial strategy explaining what the council’s programme will cost over the next 10 years and how it will be paid for
• key performance targets so that citizens will know whether or not the plan has been achieved.

What are ‘community outcomes’?

Community outcomes are the aspirations each community has identified as important to them.  These could be anything from clean water to more parks to increased safety. The council and other organisations in the community will use these outcome statements to develop their planning and activities.

What opportunities are there for people to become involved with the Ten Year Plan process?

Every three years the process to develop a Ten Year Plan provides an opportunity for the public to participate in local decision-making and to influence the current direction and decisions of their council, and ultimately the future of their community.

Every resident, young and old, has the opportunity to contribute to the Ten Year Plan.

Under the Local Government Act 2002, councils are required by law to consult with their communities and other interested parties on proposed activities in their district, and take their feedback into account.

What is different about this plan from other plans councils have prepared?

The requirement for councils to produce a Ten Year Plan is intended to focus local authorities on promoting the wellbeing of their communities, including social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing.

The plan provides flexibility for councils to work co-operatively and collaboratively with other public and private organisations to advance community goals, and meet the needs of their communities. Councils are required to consult widely and listen to community views.

Ten Year Plans are different from the way councils used to present information. Councils now look at all proposals and plans over a ten year period. This way you can clearly see:

• what the issues facing your local council are
• how the council plans to resolve those issues
• how much the council plans to spend over the next ten years and in which areas.

Is this just another layer of planning bureaucracy?

The Ten Year Plan is a commitment from your council to consult widely on important policies and actions that impact upon the wellbeing of your district and its people - socially, economically, environmentally and culturally.

The council will report to the community at least every three years on whether or not the community outcomes are being achieved.

How often are the Ten Year Plans reviewed?

Councils are required to monitor and report on the achievements of the plan at least once every three years.

Councils also say how they will monitor the outcomes in the Ten Year Plan and report on the progress of monitoring in their annual plans.