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Ahu Ake is Waipā’s first Community Spatial Plan, developed from 2020-2024. It is the blueprint for placemaking and sets out 30-year investment priorities. It is the Council’s platform to become an anchor institution. Waipā District is a major agricultural hub nestled in the heart of the Waikato region. With a collection of towns, villages, and marae amidst a rural backdrop, it hosts diverse economic activities, a rich cultural history, and important environmental features like the Waikato and Waipā rivers.
Rapid population and economic growth mean Waipā needs a strategy to guide change. Ahu Ake encompasses the natural and built environments, economy, growth, placemaking, climate change, and infrastructure. Ahu Ake influences our future planning including topic-specific plans such as our Transport Strategy and District Plan, and the delivery of projects and initiatives.
A core team of experts in executive leadership, planning and strategic policy, communications, engagement, Mana Whenua/ Iwi partnerships, and GIS lead the project with input from Council’s asset management functions.
With Ahu Ake, Council has engaged with the community like never before, and partnership-led decision-making with Mana Whenua/Iwi has underpinned the project. The project deployed ArcGIS Storymaps to test possible future scenarios with partners and stakeholders. Council toured the district to hear from small and large communities. A World Café community participatory process involved a statistically representative voice of the 2050 community.
Ahu Ake shows how Waipā’s vision of ‘Building connected communities' will lead to positive environmental, cultural, social, and economic well-being outcomes for the district's communities.
