Council has made no significant changes to the activities in the Annual Plan from what was planned in the 2023/24 year of the Ten-Year Plan.

Council is committed to and focused on delivering the projects agreed to in the 2021-2031 Ten-Year Plan, including year 3 of the roading programme approved by Waka Kotahi, along with continued wastewater and water renewals on our underground pipes, pumps and infrastructure.

We have worked to ensure that we can keep rates increases to a minimum, despite significant pressure from inflation, while still delivering all our core services in the community and remaining financially prudent.

We have reviewed our activities to confirm that we are delivering services in the most cost-effective way possible, and have sought to offset forecast increases in expenses through reducing some budgets while still delivering the levels of service agreed in the Ten-Year Plan.

Overall, average rates will increase by 6.2% for the 2023/24 year.

This is higher than the increase predicted for Year 3 of the Ten-Year Plan, which was 4%. This increase is mainly the result of inflation, emergency roading maintenance due to severe weather events, and resourcing required to deliver on the Ten-Year Plan.