Draft Community Plan Seeks Balance

A draft Community Plan that aims to maintain the district’s progress while minimising cost to ratepayers has been adopted by New Plymouth District Council for public consultation.

Tonight (Wednesday) the council signed off the Draft 2009-2019 Community Plan, which will be available for public submissions from 31 March.

“This plan is our interpretation of feedback we’ve received from 1,400 people and organisations so far – and our question is, have we interpreted it right?” says Mayor Peter Tennent.

“Our consultation since May last year has shown that people want us to keep moving the district forward, but at the same time they’d like the cost of that momentum pared down as much as possible.

“Now we want the public to look through the draft plan, or the summary flier that we’ll be sending to all households, and let us know if we have got that balance right.”

Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow says the council has worked hard to keep operating budgets tight by critically reviewing funding levels for depreciation and loans, and the way the council funds its programmes; and also by revising the assumptions on inflation and interest rates.

“We also trimmed a long list of projects down by either limiting the number of new projects or deferring them,” says Mrs McKerrow. “This has led to a $50 million reduction in proposed new project expenditure over the 10 years of the plan.

“As well, we have found efficiency savings on procurement and internal costs of nearly $570,000, and there are other budget savings we are seeking the community’s opinion on.

“The good news is we have been able to do all this and pretty much maintain the same standard of services and facilities that the community has come to expect. The plan still contains plenty of projects and work programmes for the betterment of the district.”

The draft plan proposes an increase of 3.84 per cent in the amount collected in general rates, as well as the following increases for targeted rates (uniform charges paid by those receiving these services):

Water, $4.00 per year.
Sewerage, $9.50 per year.
Refuse, $3.00 per year.
For roading, the council is proposing a new targeted rate of $112.50 per year, to be paid by every ratepayer.

“Other uniform charges reflect the total cost of that service: The roading targeted rate will continue to be significantly subsidised by general rates but the overall roading budget has been reduced.”

The Mayor is urging ratepayers to call the council from 31 March to find out how the proposed increases would affect their individual rates payments.

“The proposed increase to the general rate is 3.84 per cent but it’s highly unlikely that anyone’s general rates payments will go up by exactly this amount,” he says. “There are many factors which influence how much you’ll be asked to pay, so the best way to find this out is to give us a call from the 31st.”

The draft plan is open for public submissions from 31 March to 1 May. A summary of the plan will be sent to all households between 7 and 9 April, while the summary and the entire draft plan will be available in the Have Your Say section of this website from 31 March. A series of public meetings throughout the district will begin on 31 March.

“Make sure you have your say by the first of May!” says Mayor Pete.

“So far 1,400 people and organisations have taken part in the consultation process since May last year, making this our largest Community Plan consultation ever.

“But we’re hoping for even more public feedback so that we can have the best Community Plan possible for the future of our fantastic district.”

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