Kete Planning Consultancy
Ko wai mātou | Who are we?
Kete Planning Consultancy is led by Courtney Bennett, a Christchurch-based strategic and environmental planning practitioner. Courtney’s whakapapa links her to Pākehā that immigrated to Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu from Scotland and the southeast of England a few generations ago. She was born and raised in Auckland, and has built her planning career working predominantly in Te Waipounamu.
Courtney holds a Bachelor of Planning (hons), Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts, and Master of Science (dist). She is also a former recipient of the New Zealand Planning Institute Lance Leikis Young Planner Award, and has been part of teams that have received both NZPI best practice and research excellence awards.
Kete Planning Consultancy has extensive experience working for and with whānau, hapū, and iwi, and specialises in strategic and policy planning, plan development, and innovative engagement processes.
Areas of Practice
Policy & Plan Writing
Kete Planning has experience in strategic planning, drafting policy for statutory plans, leading plan development, and preparing submissions/responses for plan reviews etc. They have a particular interest in infusing cultural narratives into plan design, and producing plain-language planning documents.
Engagement Processes
Kete Planning specialises in working for and with mana whenua and Māori communities, and supporting others to engage with these communities. They also have experience working with wider communities to help ‘demystify planning’. This includes supporting whānau to contribute to planning processes, facilitating workshops, developing bicultural decision-making processes, and preparing engagement strategies.
Research & Education
Kete Planning can undertake research projects on behalf of clients, and has contributed their own research to a number of planning-related journals. Kete Planning also presents at conferences and events, and delivers guest lectures.
Kete Planning offer workshops on best practice mana whenua engagement where their involvement is supported by appropriate mana whenua and/or Māori communities.
“You can never be an expert in someone else’s culture, but you can be an expert listener”
– Courtney Bennett