🌱 What is Raranga Te Rawhiti – Weaving the East?
Raranga Te Rawhiti – Weaving the East is a community-led initiative developed in response to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Fire Review. One of the key recommendations from the review was for Christchurch City Council to rebuild trust by strengthening relationships with the communities most affected.
This plan represents a commitment to reconnecting with the Eastern Suburbs, working alongside residents, community groups, and organisations to listen, learn, and co-create positive change.
The Council is focusing on:
- Identifying practical actions to support community development
- Improving disaster response capabilities
- Increasing transparency and awareness of Council processes and resources
By weaving together the voices of the East, we aim to build stronger, more resilient communities where everyone feels heard, included, and empowered.
Strategic Map: Christchurch City Council Eastern Relationship
Image 1 of 4
🤝Our Values
Kotahitanga ensures collaborative efforts, emphasising collective action for the community's benefit.
Trust will be built through transparency and consistent communication, fostering reliable relationships.
Respect will guide our interactions, ensuring that people and communities are valued and included.
Equity will ensure fair distribution of resources and opportunities.
Managing expectations well will involve clear, honest communication about what can be achieved, ensuring all stakeholders have a realistic understanding of project goals and timelines. A focus of the project will be delivering on what we say we are going to deliver. To ensure this we will work with communities to identify projects that are practical and achievable.
Our Latest Report
Tsunami and Disaster Response Planning
The Community Resilience Coordinators have been busy in the Waitai Area. In order to improve visibility of their work, a one page plan has been developed, outlining what they do and what they plan to achieve in the next six months. A draft copy of this plan is attached. Additionally, a summary of the activities that have been undertaken recently in the Waitai area is also attached. The intention is to improve the reporting of this team, to highlight the great work they do.
Community Development
The Pasifika Garden Project at Linwood Resource Centre is proving to be a key intergenerational connection outcome for both the community and council. Bringing local Matua and Tamariki together to work together in the gardens planting taro and other traditional Island vegetables as well as learning to care and maintain the land. While still in its early stages, this is already improving Council connections with a number of Pacific health providers, the Christchurch City Mission but also local students, staff and parents from Te Huarahi/Linwood Avenue School as well as Te Aratai College. These relationships will be key in engaging with these communities in future.
Community Development - Waitai Youth Board
Following efforts to build the Youth Board through nominations and applications from the eastern Youth organisations staff have reviewed the structure and process for the Project and have been working with Kate Burgess from the Christchurch Youth Council on a new approach. Currently the Christchurch Youth Council have a number of members who represent the east of the city and these members accompanied with representatives from the four Secondary schools will be targeted to provide representatives. There will be an initial Hui scheduled in February where representatives will attend. This Hui will be facilitated by the Christchurch Youth Council members with the support of the governance team staff and CYC staff. Following the Hui the Youth Board will be formed out of the participants and they will work towards a submission to the annual plan. Following this and with the ideas that came out of the process, they will be supported to create a Waitai Youth Plan ahead of the 2025 Elections that would be for the term 25-28. This would be presented to the incoming Board.
Community Mapping and Information Gathering
Staff continue to work with SEWN and have met with their staff to start finalising plans for the community interview rollout. A semi-structured question guide, which will form the basis for the interviews, is being created and will be completed in early 2025. The Waitai Community Board will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the guide. Once approved the community interviews will begin.
