What comes to mind when reading the word “place”? How about “strong” or “connected”? Do people really know what “natural” means?
These were the pressing questions debated by Marlborough councillors on Thursday, as they attempted to finalise the wording of their vision, mission and values statements for the 2027-37 Long Term Plan.
The short sentences aimed to give the organisation its direction. The vision stated what it wanted to achieve, the mission set out how it would achieve them, and the values defined the principles it would follow along the way.
Council strategic planning manager Evelyn Arnold presented two versions of each statement — a longer, wordier, more specific version, and a shorter, more general version.
Councillors spent about 40 minutes going through each statement, analysing the wording.
The greatest debate was over the word “place”.
Multiple statements used “place”, such as the mission “empowering people, places, and businesses to prosper together”, and one of the six values statements: “We put people and place at the centre of decisions.”
Raylene Innes questioned what “place” really meant.
“Places can be a town centre or it could be the natural environment,” Innes said.
Brian Dawson said he was also unsure about “place”, but Gerald Hope urged councillors not to get “bogged down” with defining the word.
“Look it up, it’s a verb and a noun. It covers everything off perfectly,” Gerald said.
Some councillors’ opinions were punctuated by laughter around the room.
Several councillors looked around in disbelief or silently laughed as others dissected the appropriateness of yet another word.
Kaitiaki, meaning guardian in te reo Māori, proved another word in contention after Malcolm Taylor said some people wouldn’t understand it.
Barbara Faulls said the concept of kaitiaki had been used for more than 10 years in the tourism industry and was well understood.
Scott Adams said the easiest solution was to put the English translation in brackets next to the word.
John Hyndman said choosing a word “90 per cent of the people in this province” couldn’t understand was a “poor communication choice”.
But Ben Stace said it would be a “good way for people to expand their language knowledge”.
Thelma Sowman said she disliked the word “strong” in “strong communities” but could not think of a replacement.
Barbara also questioned the phrase “outstanding lifestyles”: “Is that lying on the beach and sunning yourself?”
The final debate was whether to include “natural” in “natural environment” in a values statement about environmental stewardship.
Malcom questioned whether “natural environment” made the pledge too narrow.
“Environment includes not just natural environment but also man-made environment,” he said.
Several councillors expressed concerns about the statement striking a balance between protecting the environment and promoting land use and economic development.
Deborah Dalliessi said she favoured “natural resources” over “natural environment”.
Gerald said the councillors were tinkering with words that “meant different things to different people”.
“I’m finding it quite stimulating hearing people’s point of view, but I don’t think we are getting very far,” he said.
The statements were to be approved at the next full council meeting, but Evelyn said there clearly needed to be more discussion before bringing it to a vote.
“I suggest we set aside half a day to discuss this,” Gerald joked.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
