Clutha District Council will support a full-day community workshop in Lawrence later this month, as development of a long term plan for the community draws near.

District Development Manager Jill Borland said that following a series of successful workshops in anticipation of the Clutha Gold Trail over the past nine months, the Lawrence/Beaumont communities were well on the way to developing their own long term plan for the area.

However, Ms Borland said it was now vital that the views of the wider community were also incorporated to ensure the plan was truly representative of the entire community.

"We've had good representation from the Lawrence/Beaumont community and surrounding areas at the cycle trail opportunities workshops. These workshops have set a platform for how the community sees itself developing into the future, and these views now need to be teased out and expanded," she said.

"The process is actually a lot of fun and we would encourage everyone, whether they have attended the previous cycle trail workshops or not, to come along and have their say."

The full-day community workshop on Sunday 26 August will be very interactive and will follow a basic strategic planning process covering:

Looking at what it most important to people that live there (values).

Expanding on the SWOT analysis begun through the cycle trail process.

Imagining how the 'ideal Lawrence/Beaumont' would look.

Creating a vision for the area/townships.

Developing some objectives on which to base the plan.

Identifying key projects and priorities to achieve these objectives.

Identifying the community communication and leadership processes needed to take the plan forward.

Agreeing to a community consultation project.

The workshop will be held at the Lawrence Golf Club from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Sunday 26 August. RSVPs for catering and seating purposes are essential and are requested by Wednesday 22 August to Jeanette Paterson at the Lawrence Service Centre: jeanette.paterson@cluthadc.govt.nz or phone 03 485 9909.