Shaping our Future (SOF) is holding two ‘community visioning’ workshops in conjunction with the Luggate Community Association at Whare Mahana (Luggate’s new memorial centre) in mid-July.

The last community plan for Luggate was produced 20 years ago (in 2003) when there were just 83 homes in the township and the Luggate Community Association has agreed it’s time to give that plan an update, SOF said in a statement. 

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) figures indicate the 83 houses in Luggate had increased to 230 by 2021 and the new district plan enables another 310 to be built in the long term.

“There’s a lot of capacity for future growth already baked into the district plan,” Shaping our Future executive officer John Glover said. 

“In the short term, the adequacy of water and other infrastructure may act as a natural brake on the rate of that growth so it’s a great time for the community to get ahead of some of that. 

Luggate’s current community plan is 20 years old.

“They’ve got a great hall, but what’s next on the list?”

John said SOF wants to “capture some conversations around what defines Luggate and Luggatonians - if that’s the correct word to use - so this can be carried forward as a foundation for the future”.

SOF chair Vanessa van Uden said the organisation knows if you have a plan led and owned by the community you are far more likely to get the outcomes the community desires. 

“The alternative is no plan and everyone else determining your future for you, so it’s well worth giving up a couple of hours to come along and have your say.”

The workshops, which are open to all, will be held at the Luggate Memorial Centre on Thursday July 13 from 6.30 -9.30pm and Sunday July 16 from 9am-12pm. It doesn’t matter which workshop people attend.

SOF is a not-for-profit organisation managed by a group of volunteers who live in Queenstown Lakes District. Independent of QLDC, they advocate for communities to help them achieve the future they have described.

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