What makes our District liveable to you

What makes our District liveable to you? That’s the question the Gore District Council will ask residents and ratepayers over the next few weeks as it heads into its 2025-2034 Long Term Plan.

General Manager Communications and Customer Support Sonia Gerken said as the Council plans for the future, it is important to understand what the community values.

“Is it the award-winning public gardens? Or the free events that celebrate our diversity and special occasions?

“Maybe it’s taking time to explore the art gallery or aquarobics at the pool.”

The Council would be looking closely at its levels of service across a range of activities during the Long Term Plan process.

“It would be easy to assume we know what’s important to people who live in the District. But what one person values when it comes to liveability can be quite different to someone else.”

Over the next four weeks, we are asking people to ‘vote’ for seven activities using seven tokens. They can use all their tokens on one activity or spread them over several activities.

There will be a couple of ways to get involved, including an interactive online voting tool, which can be found at https://say.goredc.govt.nz/.

“Given we’ve got a strong digitally connected community, we thought it would be good to offer an easy and fun way for people to vote.

“We also want to make sure we hear from all sectors of our community, such as young people who are more likely to try a digital option,” she said.

For those who prefer the more personal touch, the Council will have a voting station at locations around the District, starting this Wednesday, as well as at the following facilities:

• Week starting 14 October - Gore Visitor Centre
• Week starting 21 October - Mataura Library/Service Centre
• Week starting 28 October - Gore Aquatic Centre/MLT Event Centre
• Week starting November 4 - Gore Library

There was also an educational element to this community conversation – “often the many services and activities provided by local government and used daily by residents are overlooked”.

For more information about council services and activities, how to vote and locations for the voting station, go to www.lets.talk.goredc.govt.nz and click on the link on the home page.