Westland District Council is inviting residents to take the wheel and help shape the district's future as work begins on the Long Term Plan 2027-2037.
Council has launched an interactive online Budget tool that challenges residents to answer a simple question: If you had $100 of rates revenue to spend, what would you spend it on?
The initiative marks the start of an early engagement process for the Long Term Plan (LTP), the document that will guide Council's priorities, services and investment decisions over the next decade.
Mayor Helen Lash said the district was entering a period of significant change, making community input more important than ever.
"The past few years have brought unprecedented change for local government, and more change is coming," Mayor Lash said.
"At times like these, we have a choice. We can let the future happen to us, or we can take charge and shape it.
"This Long Term Plan may be the most important one Westland has ever developed. It is also our best opportunity to understand what our communities value most and how we can protect those things in the future."
The budget tool allows residents to see how Council currently allocates every $100 of rates revenue across services such as roads, public facilities, regulatory functions, waste management, parks and reserves, community halls and economic development.
Participants can then adjust the funding levels to reflect their own priorities and explore the trade-offs that come with those decisions.
Chief Executive Barbara Phillips said the exercise was designed to start a district-wide conversation about community priorities before Council begins working on the draft Long Term Plan.
"Every year Council must make choices about how rates are invested across the services that support our communities,"
"There is never enough funding to do everything we would like to do. Spending more in one area often means spending less somewhere else.
"We often hear that Council should focus on core services, but what one person sees as essential may be different from what someone else values most. That's why we're asking our communities to tell us directly where they think the balance should sit."
The decisions made through the Long Term Plan affect almost every aspect of daily life. The roads you drive on, the parks and facilities you use, support for our communities and local economy, all of these are shaped through this plan.
Rather than waiting until formal consultation next year, we want to bring our communities into the conversation now and better understand what matters most to them.
Residents are encouraged to use the Budget tool and submit their views on the services, facilities and investments they believe should be prioritised over the next 10 years.
"There are no right or wrong answers," Barbara Phillips said.
"We're putting residents in the driver's seat because the choices we make today will help determine what kind of Westland we leave for future generations."
Residents can use the Budget tool at: westlanddc.govt.nz/LTP