Hearing date set for climate change consultation

Published on 18 March 2021

Whanganui District Council has received 55 submissions on its 2020/21 draft climate change strategy, Te Rautaki Huringa Āhuarangi. Currently, 15 people have indicated they wish to speak in support of their submission and a date for hearings and deliberations has been set.

The council’s policy team leader, Jasmine Hessell, says the majority of submissions either strongly supported or supported the general direction of the draft strategy with roughly 10% indicating they did not support the document.  

“We are very pleased to have had solid engagement from the community on this critical issue and we’d like to thank people for taking the time to make these detailed submissions.”

She says a common theme from submitters was the recognition that organisations need to work collaboratively to address climate change and that everyone needs to play their part.

Many submitters underlined the importance of the council taking a leadership role in mitigating and adapting to climate change in our district.

“Numerous practical suggestions for addressing climate change were put forward. These included promoting alternative transport options, encouraging energy efficiency in buildings and urban development and supporting agriculture to become more sustainable, to name a few,” Jasmine Hessell says.

“After the hearings our elected members will make their deliberations and decide whether to adopt the draft climate change strategy.”

Submission hearings will be held in the Council Chamber at 101 Guyton Street starting from 10.00am on Tuesday, 20 April with a reserve day of Tuesday, 27 April. The public can attend the hearings in person or watch the livestream via the council’s Facebook page. After the event video footage will be available on the council website and the council’s Facebook page.

The volume of submissions on climate change can be viewed as a PDF document on our website.