Council to make a call on 2023-2024 Draft Annual Plan engagement

Buller District Council will decide this week on how to engage with the community on its 2023 – 2024 Draft Annual Plan.

The plan sets out how Council intends to deliver on its commitments made in the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan.

This year, council intends to engage with the public over key areas in the plan, rather than carry out formal consultation. Council will consider ways to give people the opportunity to feedback including an online survey.

Mayor Jamie Cleine says: “This is the third year of our 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan (LTP), which was adopted in 2021, and the plan is largely consistent with what was signalled in the LTP. As the changes to projects and services are not significant or materially different to what was proposed, Council doesn’t feel it needs to undertake a formal consultation process on the Annual Plan this year.”

“The key thing for residents to know is that we still want to keep you informed about what’s proposed, and how it will affect people in Buller, and we welcome feedback. Every voice really does matter to us.”

In terms of things that are slightly different to the 2021-2031 LTP, Council is managing the ongoing funding impact of flood recovery, preparing for three waters reforms in 2024 and contributing towards Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Road to Zero road safety strategy, which aims to significantly reduce deaths and injuries on New Zealand roads.

“A year ago, we were in the early stages of recovery from the weather events that had a huge impact on our district and people. Our partners in central government have provided much-needed support for our recovery and rebuild work. Much remains to be done this year, and our focus also turns to future-proofing our infrastructure, and continuing discussions on the impacts of climate change,” says Mayor Cleine.

“As signalled last year, there are some remaining flood recovery costs to be met by council this year. We are proposing to fund this balance from cash reserves, rather than through additional rates or levies.

“Among other work, we will complete our review into rating systems and how rates are calculated. This has been a long-term project and we remain committed to finding a fair and equitable rating system.

We are continuing to work with partners to ensure we are prepared for three waters reforms in 2024, while progressing our critical local capital projects for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.

-ENDS-

For more information contact
 Mayor Jamie Cleine
 [email protected]