Every great city needs a vision - and from that vision a plan can be crafted.

In January 2021 I was contracted by Nelson City Council to manage the community engagement activity for its 30-year city centre plan - Te Ara ō Whakatū.

Working closely with the city centre team we undertook a detailed stakeholder mapping process and developed an engagement strategy that encouraged quality feedback and built trust in the process. From that strategy, we created a six-month schedule of engagement activity and managed that each step of the way.

42 stakeholder groups were identified, comprising over 275 individuals. It was important that we took the time to listen to as wide a range of views as possible, and use that information to shape the draft plan. As the meetings progressed the draft plan evolved - each time being presented back to the stakeholders for review and feedback.

In total, we hosted 81 meetings over a four-month period - over 200hrs of face to face interaction. The output was Te Ara ō Whakatū - the pathways of Nelson.

The draft plan was put out for community feedback in September 2021 and received 80% support - a degree of community support seldom seen in local government. Nelson City Council adopted the draft plan in December 2021 with activity scheduled to begin in 2022.