Whakatane District Council adopts LTCCP2009

Whakatane District Council finalised its roadmap for the next ten years today Monday 13 July 2009. After listening to community concerns about affordability issues, levels of service and mindful of the economic environment, the Council adopted the LTCCP 2009-19.

Feedback formally and informally at the various community and stakeholder meetings influenced the Council’s decisions and projects in the adopted plan. The slight increase in the average rates increase from 6.3% in the draft to 7.3% in the adopted plan is a reflection of the Council listening to community.
The Council made a number of important decisions. These include

Committing $3.25million towards the provision and development of improved facilities for library and Museum & Gallery.
Promote waste minimisation and the cost disposal through collection and composting of residual waste. Compost produced as by product will be sold to help fund operational cost of the composting plant
Provide a long-term solution for waste disposal through development of a landfill.
Deferring the implementation of SUIPs policy by 12 months to allow sufficient time to clearly define the policy and set criteria for applying SUIPs.
Confirmed its proposal to explore and implement alternative ownership and operational models for rural halls
Agreed in principle to sell pensioner housing subject to:
Protection of existing tenants rights and welfare
Protection and control of ongoing use and development of low cost pensioner housing
Proceeds from the sale to be used to retire debt.
Agreed to retain and improve the efficiency and utilisation of Murupara Service Centre
Adopted a staged approach to the collection of Development Contributions.
Develop a strategy for considering and evaluating land assets and reserves before proceeding with any sales.

Despite the economic constraints, the Plan retains the Council’s commitment to achieving a positive vision for the district. There are no major reductions in the levels of service that the Council provides to the community.

The Council’s financial strategy reflects its awareness of the economic downturn and rates affordability while being poised to respond to any upturn in the economy. This balance has been achieved by prioritising capital expenditure that is essential to the functioning of the community. Capital projects that attract external funding have also been given a higher priority, while projects which improve community infrastructure have been prioritised and other have been pushed back for some years until the community is better placed to fund them.

District Mayor Colin Holmes said the Council the LTCCP has been a result of a lot of long hours of hard work by Councillors and staff. The LTCCP2009-19 is based on solid information and robust feedback from the community.

Mr Holmes said focusing on future growth and development needs as well as improving service levels while controlling expenditure has been a fundamental feature of this LTCCP.