Reading: Several hundred (thousands?) pages
Hours in meetings: 26 hours
Long Term Plan Hearings Week this week. After the day at Huria Marae on Friday we met in Whakatane on Tuesday, Rotorua on Wednesday, and Tauranga on Thursday.
We started at 9.30 every day and the last submission was heard by 5 pm. Most submissions were heard in ten minutes although some were brief including that of the gentleman in Whakatane who came to the microphone, suggested one Councilor resign and then left the room. Others were given some more time for us to understand their positive suggestions for gnarly challenges -the Ohau Channel Wall as an example.
One person turned up to try to sell us a farm that I understand he is agent for.
We heard from almost a hundred individuals and organisations. I was impressed by the thought that had gone into most submissions.
Our job now is to understand the themes that have come through the written and oral submissions, and sieve through for practical ideas. Some ideas are good given what is in the public domain but not so good when confidential information is included in the mix.
On Monday we will have a first look through the patterns that are appearing, if any.