Snells Beach Community Conversations
Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland | 2026
Community Think was contracted by Rodney Local Board (Auckland Council) to design and deliver a participatory listening and action programme for the Snells Beach community. Working alongside a team of local community facilitators trained in participation culture, we met people where they already were — over coffee, on beach walks, at craft tables, outside school gates — and asked a simple question: what matters to you here? Instead of arriving with predefined issues and solutions, we listened.
We then collated the responses and turned them into newspaper-style headlines, grounded in what people had actually said. These headlines became the centrepiece of a community hui, where residents collectively explored what was really underneath each one. The process culminated in a participatory budgeting event, where community members pitched project ideas and voted on which ones they most wanted to see supported. Four priority areas emerged consistently: young people, connection, health and environment, and community hubs.
This showed that, despite there being clear differences, the Snells Beach community holds a shared set of priorities and common vision for the future. Beyond the funding of individual projects, this process also saw people who rarely speak in meetings finding their voice, residents who hadn’t been talking to each other in conversation, and increased interest in being part of actively building community life in Snells Beach. All of this contributed to the purpose of the project: to strengthen connection, belonging, and social cohesion.
Ticket style invitations to the community hui.
The Community Hui brought together community members to reflect on what had been heard during the earlier listening phase. Rather than presenting a formal report, the facilitation team shared the emerging themes as a series of newspaper headlines, inviting participants to stand beside the story that resonated most strongly with them.
Residents participated in a series of community conversations, activities and events designed to explore what matters most to local people.
“The strongest message from the community wasn’t about individual projects. It was about creating opportunities for people to connect, belong, contribute and shape the future of Snells Beach together.”
