When you think ahead over the next 10 years, what do you see in your mind’s eye in terms of the natural environment around you? Perhaps you see long hot summers spent at your favourite swim spot, walking your regular track through native bush free from plant and animal pests, or planting out streams on your farm to help improve water quality.

We’re developing a plan for Horizons’ areas of business, including how we will ensure sustainable use of our region’s natural resources, for the next 10 years – and how we propose to rate for it.

This Long-term Plan will outline what we are going to deliver from July 2024 to June 2034 and is reviewed every three years.

We want you to help shape what’s in the plan so what you picture for our region is similar to what we’re working towards.

Our 2024-34 Long-term Plan consultation was open 22 March - 22 April. Click here to learn more about it.

We did pre-engagement in August and September. You can find a summary of the pre-engagement in the Document Library on this page.

Feedback on this area closed on 17 September 2023. You can read a survey of our pre-engagement by going to the Document Library you can find either on the right (on desktop) or by scrolling further (on mobile).

Right now, your councillors are reviewing what Horizons' priorities should be across everything we have planned for the next 10 years to make sure we meet the needs of our community now and into the future. Substantial change for the sector due to central government reforms, responding to climate change, behind-the-scenes changes required for the organisation to be fit for the future, and affordability of our services for communities are all things for councillors to keep in mind as they go through this process. Council has also already made a number of commitments to delivering upgrades to provide regular, reliable, low-carbon public transport options such as the electric bus fleet in Palmerston North.

We initially have three priority areas we would like you to think about. We want to know what you think of these areas, and to rank some activities which could help us achieve them. There is also an opportunity to share any further thoughts around priorities we should focus on.

We will engage with you on specific services as part of the formal consultation process in the first quarter of 2024, but we’re asking you to think about the general direction Council is heading in first. The feedback you give will help to guide your councillors’ decisions regarding the Long-term Plan and what to include in the draft plan, which you can formally submit on next year.

You won’t receive a reply from Horizons on your thoughts, but a summary of all feedback received will be shared with Council and then made publicly available online in the coming months. Names and individual responses will not be revelaed in any way within this summary.