Draft 10-Year NRC Community plan approved

Northland Regional Council ratepayers are being asked whether they’re prepared to help fund the region’s rescue helicopter service and Whangarei’s public bus service.

Depending on the answer, the Regional Council says its overall rates revenue – excluding targeted river rates - will increase anywhere from a low of 1.27 percent up to 11.54 percent in the 2009/10 financial year.

Proposals to fund the chopper (via a regionwide rate) and buses (which only Whangarei District ratepayers would pay for) are just two of a raft of initiatives spelt out in the Council’s Draft Northland Community Plan 2009-2019.

The two-volume, roughly 400-page Draft – which sets out the direction the Regional Council intends to take over the next decade – was approved by Councillors today (subs: Weds 18 March) and will be publicly notified on 8 April. The public will then have a month - until 3pm Friday 8 May - to comment.

Chairman Mark Farnsworth says while environmental management will remain a core Council function, Councillors have also indentified sustainable growth and development in Northland as one of their key priorities over the next decade.

“There are four main platforms for growth and the areas we need to collectively improve on are economic opportunity, integrated infrastructure, regional leadership and environmental management.”

The Draft includes a proposal to further develop a Regional Growth Programme to deliver well-planned infrastructure and regionally co-ordinated economic development.

It also contains a new proposal to transfer Council’s shares in the Northland Port Corporation into a new Infrastructure Development Agency.

“Such an agency would have a number of financial advantages Council does not and could also help the NRC raise cash for future infrastructure projects.”

Mr Farnsworth says the Council’s annual operating expenditure is forecast to increase from the current $21.5M to $29.2M over 10 years, mainly due to inflation.

“In setting our proposed budgets, Councillors have been very mindful of the economic pressures Northlanders are subject to and – with one or two exceptions – intend to hold annual rates increases at, or close to, the rate of inflation for the next 10 years.”

“Northland Regional Council rates are already significantly less than the region’s three District Councils, a trend we expect to continue over the life of this plan.”

Mr Farnsworth says the Council’s current annual rates take of $11.3M (incl GST, but excluding river rates) is expected to increase anywhere between 1.27% (to $11.5M incl GST) to 11.54% ($12.6M) over the next 12 months, depending on whether Northlanders back the proposed chopper and bus rates.

As proposed, the rescue chopper rate would cost each ratepayer an extra $8.56 (incl GST) annually and raise about $675,000 a year to help fund the Northland Emergency Services Trust. The proposed new transport rate for the Whangarei District would see Whangarei ratepayers contribute an extra $12.83 (incl GST) each, raising about $460,000 annually. Until now rates for the bus service have been collected by the Whangarei District Council.

Mr Farnsworth says even if the public supports these new rates, NRC rates overall will remain very low at about $153 (incl GST) a year on average (excluding targeted river rates, which will continue to be collected from various parts of the region for river management work).

Meanwhile, he says while the Draft Community Plan overall takes a longer-term view until 2019, it also has a strong focus on the next three years.

He says about 60,000 copies of a 20-page summary of the Draft Plan– complete with a submission form – will be sent to homes throughout the region in early April.

Several hundred copies of the full Draft Plan will also be sent out to interested parties and will also be available on CD from all Council offices or via the Council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz/ltccp

Submissions can be made until 3pm on Friday 8 May.