A message to our District
Given our council has just completed a round of consultation regarding the Draft Annual Plan I would like to acknowledge members of our community who attended the sessions.
The past 12 months have been riddled with uncertainty, interest rates and living costs are significantly on the rise, taking a toll on our economy, supply chains and service delivery, which are impacting on our households and businesses.
The annual plan is dedicated to “sticking to the game plan” to achieve its community outcomes and priorities, however the unavoidable impact of inflation and rising costs to Council means we are facing an average growth adjusted rate increase of 7.49% which was above we forecasted in our Long Term Plan.
Even amidst the challenges, we continue to deliver a number of services and projects to bring benefit to our community now and into the future.
Already, council officers and elected members are focussed on the long term plan (LTP) as this is a key planning tool for councils, this describes the council activities and the community outcomes it aspires to achieve, this is a high level planning framework and will be ready for full consultation during 2024.
Last week Cr Ross Barnes and I attended the LGNZ conference for two days in Wellington, which included Regional, Metro, Rural and Provincial councils from around the country. With the general election just around the corner keynote speakers included Minister McAnulty MP Labour spokesperson for Local Government and Emergency response, Nicola Willis Deputy Leader National Party, and Eugenie Sage Green Party. Issues debated included the proposal to reduce the voting age to 16, an invigorating session focussed on resilience and future for food production, an in-depth discussion on funding for a resilient transport network that support sufficient transport investment, prioritises for both building better to achieve maintenance and new developments, this is a key area for our council as we look to the LTP and make sure we are achieving a closer alignment with your expectation and our delivery of level of services.
During the event I had the opportunity to reconnect with Mayor Kirsten Wise Napier and Mayor Craig Little Wairoa both who have significant impact in their districts with the recent Cyclone Gabrielle. Donations that have been made through the special fund set up at Hurunui District Council will be used specifically to support rural people and to aid their recovery. The total of $6700.00 has been forwarded, with $5000 of this being donated by Hawarden Waikari Lions group and the remainder from individual or group donations, Mayor Kirsten and Mayor Craig are extremely grateful for this generous donation and expressed their gratitude.
Although nearing June the weather is providing some lovely mild days so make this most of this cycle and appreciate all that our lovely district has to offer.