Jared Milbank – Person of the Year 2024
The community board was pleased to see Cambridge News name Jared Milbank as its 2024 Person of the Year.
Jared Milbank
During a stressful time for many in our town, Jared emerged as a composed and considered advocate for his community. He led the neighbourhood response to the Cambridge Connections project options, and we were impressed with his calm demeanour, depth of knowledge and respectful interactions with us. In his interview with the paper, Jared shared these messages to Cambridge: know your neighbours, read your local newspaper, download the Antenno App and know who is on your community board as they are there to listen and advocate for you. We agree with his thoughts and as the new year gets underway, our goal is for you to better know us and what we do.
Jo Davies-Colley
Our role is to bridge the gap between you, the community, and Waipā District Council. We make it our business to understand the wants and needs of our community and we feed that back to council. We do this by being part of the many organisations that exist in Cambridge such as Cambridge Committee of Social Services, The Safer Cambridge Trust, The Cambridge Tree Trust and many others. We also have strong working ties with the Cambridge Business Chamber and the Cambridge Town Hall Trust. We attend Waipā District Council meetings, work closely with council staff on a range of issues and hold monthly public meetings where we discuss issues facing the community. We hold a public forum at the beginning of every meeting where community members are welcome to present to us on any issue they would like. This year we want to hear more from you on any community issue that you are facing or wish to discuss.
This is the last year of our three-year term and it will be a busy one. Over the next few weeks, we will begin organising the town’s Anzac Day commemorations, give feedback at a resource consent hearing on the proposed Newcombe Road quarry and stay connected to the Cambridge Connections project. We know this will be significant for our community and we will be at the forefront of any developments. We also want to engage with you on council’s Long-Term Plan. This is a document describing how council’s activities are managed, delivered and funded.
Over the last few months, I have been following the Long-Term Plan process, attending meetings and workshops and asking questions. When the public consultation document is available for the community to review in March, your thoughts on it will be invaluable.
Please get in touch by emailing me or any of the board members or by attending one of our monthly meetings and presenting to us. We have two Waipā district councillors who sit on our board and council staff often attend, so it is a great opportunity for them to also hear your thoughts or concerns.
You can find the details of our meetings in the Cambridge News or on their website, all are welcome.
