The Policy Forum met online on 20 March 2026.
Key agenda items
- Canterbury Mayoral Forum’s draft Plan for Canterbury 2026-28, noting the refreshed plan is being drafted to balance the proposals and reforms impacting local government (funding and resourcing both planning/understanding the changes, and also progressing through any transition) while also progressing the region’s priorities
- Canterbury Climate Partnership Plan implementation update, noting progress on the
- Emissions Reduction workstream, and the Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability
- Assessment for Waitaha Canterbury’s Ecosystems, and preparation for a high-level review of the Plan given the significantly changed policy and funding environment
- A presentation from Stats NZ on the development of a new census model, noting theimportance of robust census data for councils’ long term plans
- An update on preparatory work for development of a regional spatial plan.
Regional Forum meetings
- The Communications and Engagement Forum met on 13 March
- The Corporate and Operations Forums met on 16 March
- The Economic Development Forum met on 20 March.
Coming up
- The Chief Executives Forum meets on 4 May
- The Mayoral Forum meets on 29 May.
