A recent North Shore City Council hosted workshop on better community engagement in planning for future local development on the North Shore was a success, says Roger Matthews, Group Manager Economic and Community Planning.

The purpose of the village planning workshop was to investigate ideas for enhancing future democracy and accountability and looking at how local communities could best interface with local boards in the new Auckland council.

The workshop hosted some 100 participants including local Residents and Ratepayers Associations, local community organisations and North Shore City Council staff, as well as representatives from the Porirua City Council, which led the development of this model for engagement in New Zealand.

The workshop came about from questions from local residents about how local democracy would work in the new 'Super City' governance structures, and a desire to see partnership, collaboration and genuine engagement between local government and community sectors in the future.

Roger Matthews says there is real enthusiasm from local community groups to be more involved in the planning and development of their local areas, especially going into the new Auckland council.

"These organisations work at the heart of our local communities and they know what residents want for their local areas. The Council is certainly interested in looking at ways these groups can better interface with their local boards and have more of a say on community matters.

"Obviously there are a number of uncertainties leading into the new 'Super City' era, so it is only fair that our local communities want to have their say now, and be offered a voice leading into the new Council.

"Right now, we are awaiting feedback from these groups to see what they gained from the workshop and what else they would like to see put on the table, but we see this workshop as a first step towards having better relationships with those groups working at the very heart of our North Shore communities," says Mr Matthews.