Blog
Notes on local government issues
Viable options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
The Climate Change Commission's 2021 report includes a number of recommendations for central and local government to work together on reducing New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions. These improvements to legislation, funding, and public engagement will be...
Audit New Zealand advice on LTP consultation documents and community engagement
Over the next couple of months New Zealand councils will be releasing their Long Term Plan (LTP) consultation documents, so it’s timely to review Audit New Zealand’s advice on how to make these documents as effective as possible. In ‘Long-term plans: Our audits of...
How to write an interesting consultation document
One of the challenges of writing a concise, interesting resource management or Long Term Plan consultation document is that the starting point is a much larger, more detailed source of information. Councils need to transform the key elements of detailed analysis into...
How to write a submission on a council plan
Last week I edited a submission for a client (Ian McComb, of Small Time Developments Ltd) which includes some really good practices. That experience inspired the following checklist which you may find helpful if you are writing a submission on a council plan. (This...
Five ways to avoid OOS when working at home
Thanks to Covid-19, this was a year where working at home became normal. As well as the global benefit of lower emissions from vehicles, we also enjoyed: less traffic on the roadwearing soft pants at workhanging out with the dogbeing trusted to deliver on timehaving...
How to use Herrmann Whole Brain Thinking to understand yourself and others
I first learnt about Herrmann Whole Brain Thinking at a presentation by Julie Varney, back in 2015, so it was a real treat to catch up with her in 2020 to revisit this topic. Julie Varney is the director of the Business Development Company. The Whole Brain Thinking...
Compost bins and worm farms: a review of the options
There are multiple reasons why councils around the country want to keep food waste out of the landfill — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to benefit soil health, and to extend the life of landfills. The two broad options are to put your food waste out for community...
How to use styles in Word documents
Learning how to use styles in your Word documents gives you the power to design the look of your document — and avoid unpleasant surprises. I dislike Calibri font — there’s something mean about it, especially in the smaller point sizes. Give me a more generous...
How to share the ideas in your Activity Management Plan
An Activity Management Plan is a technical document rather than a bookshop bestseller. But that’s no reason not to communicate its contents with your target audiences. You can click here if you would prefer to listen to an audio version of this article. Anyone who...