129 people responded to the on-island questionnaire of 500 sent out, partly because many people simply never received the questionnaire and related papers. Auckland City are currently talking to NZ Post at a high level, and some official announcement will presumably be made, it being of no value whatsoever speculating on the reason(s) for the failure of the mail-out process. A cloud of a size hard to calculate therefore presently hangs over the value of the on-island report. Auckland City Council planners will be keeping a keen interest in the results of the project because issues and concerns that are identified through the shared vision process can be incorporated into planning.

Although to what extent the on-island analysis can be trusted is open to question, the off-island property owners questionnaire analysis report prepared by Luke Procter of CRESA was based on a 19% response by 125 people from a mail-out to over 650 property owners.

Appreciation for the Barrier’s natural character seemed to come through again and again in both on and off-shore analyses.

The Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust’s vision of ‘a pest-free island attracting national and international visitors with an interest in the unique biotic and cultural heritage of NZ’ would certainly seem to have some potential consistency with various of the concerns and aspirations as expressed in the CRESA analysis. See the analysis tabulated below.

The methodology by which this vision-building exercise has been carried out is certainly impressive, and the mailout failure regrettable. However, the process demonstrates that it is possible to tease out the concerns and aspirations of a group of people such as have an interest in the Barrier.

If a pest-free Great Barrier is ultimately what a significant number of concerned Barrier residents and off-shore landowners want, then three things are apparent from the CRESA vision building exercises;

1. The widespread existing recognition in both reports for the Barrier’s natural values.

2. The impressive methodology of the vision-building exercise run by CRESA, which could be emulated at any future stage by the GBICT as a very useful tool.

3. The GBICT stands out as the ideal vehicle to become a part of and support for those residents and off-island landowners who can see potential in the concept of a pest-free Great Barrier and who want to do something concrete about it.