Action plan workshops
The Waimate District Council is seeking community input for the Waimate District Climate Resilience Strategy.
Seven Action Plans have been identified. These will form the basis of our Climate Resilience Strategy for council to consider sometime in 2025. Throughout 2024, you will have the opportunity to contribute to these Action Plans via online or in person at our community workshops held at the Event Centre.
The Action Plans incorporate key climate risk areas identified from both national policy and community feedback from our online climate survey conducted in late 2023.
ERP: https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/
The seven action plans along with some potential discussion points based on national policy documents, our aims and guiding principles are as follows:
Our workshops will provide both an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and ideas with us and also for you to work and discuss with others in our community as we explore the relevant Action Plan together.
Online surveys around each action plan workshop will be made available two weeks prior to the respective workshop.
We recommend you familiarise yourself with the following, before filling out the survey below:
ERP (page 155 and page 293): https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/
NAP (page 125): https://environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/areas-of-work/climate-change/adapting-to-climate-change/national-adaptation-plan/
Waste Strategy: https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Te-rautaki-para-Waste-strategy-A-snapshot.pdf
Transport
- Reduce reliance on cars and support people to walk, cycle and use public transport
- Rapidly adopt low emissions vehicles
- Begin work now to decarbonise heavy transport and freight
Water management
- Reduce the vulnerability of assets exposed to climate change
- Ensure all new infrastructure is fit for a changing climate
- Use renewal programmes to improve adaptive capacity
Land use and the built environment
- Land use activities are resilient to anticipated climate change impacts
- Improve the resilience of community infrastructure
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a result of land use and building activities
Carbon sequestration and natural restoration
- Support the right mix, level and location of afforestation
- Encourage native forests as long-term carbon sinks
- Maintain existing forests
- Grow the forestry and wood processing industry to deliver more value from low carbon products
- Improve fire-management planning
- Support working with nature to build resilience
We recommend you familiarise yourself with Chapter 4 (p81) ‘Working with Nature’ and Chapter 14 (p273) ‘Forestry” from the Emission Reduction Plan (ERP) and Chapter 6 (p97) ‘Natural Environment’ in the National Adaption Plan (NAP)
ERP: https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/
Waste and circular economy
- Enable households and businesses to reduce organic waste
- Increase the amount of organic waste diverted from landfill
- Reduce and divert construction and demolition waste to beneficial uses
- Explore bans or limits to divert more organic waste from landfill
- Increase the capture of gas from landfills
- Improve waste data and prioritise a national waste licensing scheme
- Commence a Circular Economy and Bioeconomy Strategy
ERP: https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/
Waste Strategy: https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Te-rautaki-para-Waste-strategy-A-snapshot.pdf
Education and empowerment
- Build the Council’s organisational knowledge about climate change, mitigation, and adaptation
- Collaborate with stakeholders, partners, and the community, for a unified approach to the climate crisis
- Build community awareness about matters relating to climate change, including the Council’s response
Leadership and collaboration
- Align the Council’s culture, key documents and decisions with our climate change principles
- Seek out co-benefits through collaboration with district wide entities
