Council adopts Long-term Plan consultation document
Mayor Tania Tapsell says Council’s proposed 2024-2034 Long-term Plan has a focus on investing in essential services and doing these well and Council is keen to hear what the community thinks.
The Council today approved a consultation document that outlines what’s proposed and seeks the community’s feedback. Consultation opens next Thursday, 4 April, and runs until 6 May, with various options for giving feedback and public information sessions where people can find out more, speak with elected members and share their views.
“I think that it is a good thing that we don’t all share the same views, that we challenge ourselves and that we challenge what is really the best decision for our community,” the Mayor said following discussion on the proposed 10-year plan during today’s meeting.
“I am very happy that we are shortly going to be going out for consultation, because the voice of our community and their opinions is actually what matters most and that’s why we’re here,” Mayor Tapsell said.
“I acknowledge that this is an incredibly tough time . . . [that is why] we debate these issues and we make sure that we make the best decision for our community, because it is about them.
“We acknowledge that there is an increased cost of living crisis in this country and while we can’t control all of the factors of that, we can control how we decide to manage them.”
The Mayor said she was proud of the fact that Council was proposing to continue investing in the community, in particular the critical services that made up the majority of the proposed Long-term Plan.
Council needed to keep a focus on continuing to invest in essential services and doing these well and not allow the community to fall apart, she said.
Half of the rates increases in the proposed plan was inflation.
“That’s the nature of the challenge of which we’re dealing with. We gave our staff a very difficult challenge to keep rates below 10 per cent. We were very close to that.
“Everything that we’re [proposing] investing in would be considered essential and we look forward to hearing from our community on whether they want us to invest in anything else – because that question is also there.”
The proposed Long-term Plan, outlined in a staff presentation today, includes a total investment of $2.4 billion across the 10 years of the plan, including $551m for infrastructure (water supplies, stormwater, wastewater and roading).
Specific matters the community will be asked to give feedback on include proposals relating to the inner city, Aquatic Centre, pensioner housing, development contributions, rating of short-term accommodation, vacant land and lakeside sewerage schemes, as well as areas proposed for reduced spending.
The proposed financial strategy is underpinned by three key aims – to maintain affordable rates levels, use debt to fund key projects that improve the district, and maintain debt below 250% of revenue, leaving headroom to address challenges and opportunities that may arise.
Proposed rates increases across the plan start with 10.2% in Year 1 (the year starting 1 July 2024), reducing across the remaining nine years.
Long-term Plans are developed by Council every three years and cover a 10-year period. The purpose of the Long-term Plan Consultation Document is to provide an effective basis for public participation in local authority decision-making processes relating to the Long-term Plan (LTP).
Feedback will be considered when elected members finalise the LTP, which must be adopted by 30 June 2024 and takes effect 1 July 2024, the start of the next financial year.
Development of proposals that will be outlined in the consultation document follows a series of forums held between September 2023 and February 2024 where elected members developed the direction for the LTP and conversations to be included in the consultation document.
The consultation document will be available to the public when consultation opens next Thursday, 4 April 2024.
Supporting policies and strategies will also be available for the public to view.
Find out more about the Long-term Plan here: Te Mahere Hukihuki Pae Tawhiti - Draft Long Term Plan 2024 - 2034 | Let's talk | Kōrero mai (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
Go to p22 of the 27 March 2024 Council meeting agenda to view the full report on this matter.
This link will take you directly to the part of the meeting when the Long-term Plan was discussed.
The meeting was livestreamed and can be viewed on Council’s YouTube channel.