Urban Development Strategy
Where will your new neighbours live?
The Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy (UDS) partnership was created in 2003 when the councils of Christchurch City, Banks Peninsula, Selwyn and Waimakariri, Environment Canterbury and Transit NZ decided to work together on a plan for managing future urban development of the area. Over time the partnershp expanded to include other organisations, and revised its name in 2017 to become the Greater Christchurch Partnership.
Our Role
We were initially invited to provide independent communications and marketing advice to the partnership around community consultation and communication about the options for future urban development. The role expanded to include implementing an extensive consultation programme and developing ongoing communications for the next decade.
What We Did
We started by preparing a comprehensive communications strategy that recognised without a carefully crafted message/issue to stimulate media and public interest, it was unlikely a consultation about urban development would attract coverage or public feedback. Accordingly we designed a campaign to:
- focus attention on the issue – ‘where will your new neighbours live?’
- raise awareness of the range of options for managing population growth
- and seek public feedback through the consultation programme
The campaign involved:
- multiple publications (reports, flyers, discussion documents, consultation booklets)
- website and advertising
- public meetings (with display materials)
The campaign ran over a year in three distinct stages. We advised on all aspects of the communications programme, including writing and editing text for the publications, and co-ordinating design and production of all materials.
The Outcome
The UDS consultation of 2005 set new records for public participation with over 3,000 organisations and individuals submitting feedback during the community consultation process. The success of the collaboration resulted in the partnership continuing beyond the consultation phase and the strategy still underpinning the work of the participating agencies. More than a decade later, we are once again providing a range of communications services to the renamed Greater Christchurch Partnership.