Snells Beach: Community Conversations
May – June 2026
Over the past few months, residents have shared ideas, joined conversations, attended community events, and helped shape a vision for the future of Snells Beach. The process culminated in our participatory budgeting event, where community members voted on the ideas they most wanted to see happen. You can see the results below!
Our final report is now ready. Have a read to see what we heard, the themes that emerged, and the projects and priorities identified by the community.
We are pleased to confirm that funding has been allocated to support several community-led projects, and work is now underway with project champions to bring these ideas to life.
Some of the projects moving forward include:
- Youth-focused initiatives and youth engagement
- Computer classes for adults
- She Connects Snells Beach
- Community newsletters and information sharing
- Chatter tables and conversation spaces
- Community potluck nights
- Community hub initiatives
- Outdoor exercise equipment
If you would like to help with any of these projects, please email lou@rodneycommunity.org.nz
11 June 2026: Community Project Voting Night
The Community Conversations project concluded with a participatory budgeting event on June 11th at Mahurangi East Community Centre where community members pitched ideas and voted on the projects they most wanted to see supported.
A total of 336 votes were cast and $15,000 was made available to support community-led action.
While individual projects received support, the voting revealed something more significant: a clear set of shared community priorities.
A full report is now published, click here to read.
26th May: Community Hui
On May 26 at the Mahurangi Community Centre, around 40 Snell’s locals came together to explore a range of issues facing the community. We used newspaper stories as conversation starters and found that while people cared about different topics, many of the conversations led back to similar themes: connection, belonging, opportunities for young people, and how we continue to live well together as a community.
People didn’t just talk about issues, we also began developing ideas for action.
A number of project ideas emerged on the night, including opportunities for young people to have their voices heard, community gathering spaces, activities that help people connect, ideas for the shopping centre area, and other ways of strengthening community life in Snells Beach.
We know there will be many good ideas that weren’t in the room that night.
We are now inviting local residents, community groups, organisations and informal networks to submit project ideas through a simple project form. They don’t have to be perfectly formed.
Submit an idea below and join us for our final event!
Thursday 11 June : Funding & Vote Night
Snells Beach Community Centre
Soup and bread from 6.00pm
Community Project Marketplace from 6.30pm
The evening will be a chance for people to hear project ideas, meet others who share similar interests, and help decide how available funding will be distributed across community-led projects.
If you know people with ideas, energy or enthusiasm for Snells Beach, please encourage them to get involved.
On now: Interactive Community Sessions
Since 28th April, we’ve been hearing your thoughts on the future of Snells Beach. Join us for our final two community events where we’ll bring all the conversations together to present to the community. These won’t be formal presentations, they will be interactive!
It’s a chance to:
see what’s been said across Snells Beach
add your voice
build on ideas together
26 MAY: Thanks to a great turnout. In the form of News Headlines, we shared what we heard from the community during our Pop-Up Conversations. We continued the conversations and finished the evening with a list of potential community projects, ready to be supported.
11 JUNE: Funding Session + Project Vote Night! Even if you didn’t make the first hui, we encourage you to join us for our second and final event. Enjoy hot soup while you decide which local projects get funded.
Venue: Mahurangi East Community Centre
Everybody is welcome. Don’t worry if you haven’t made it to any of the pop-up conversations, you’re input is still valued.
See you there!
This project is made possible thanks to support from @Rodney Local Board.
Contact:
Lou Perkins – Community Facilitator for Mahurangi East
Just finished: Pop-Up Conversations 28th April - 9th May 2026
We have just wrapped up two weeks of pop-up conversations across Snells Beach.
This was a chance to:
- talk about what you love about Snells
- name what’s not working so well
- share where you think more attention is needed
It’s wasn’t consultation in the usual sense — it was about people talking with each other, not just feeding back to council.
We tried to reach as many different corners of Snells as possible. We arranged everything from casual chats on the run to craft activities and interactive workshops.
It was so lovely to meet so many of you and to start some really interesting conversations. We have gathered heaps of useful feedback.
What's going on
Check out what else our team have been working on.
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Number of free events, programs & workshops
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Number of free events, programs & workshops
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Meet the Team
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Contact us
To contact the Rodney Community Team or for general inquiries about the website:
