Councillors to consider changes to Long Term Plan

Next Tuesday Whangarei District Councillors will be considering a number of proposed changes to the 2012-2022 Draft Long Term Plan, prompted by public feedback.

The public’s clear and direct objection to a proposed $4 million multi-sport park at Gomez Road and equally clear requests for sealed roads and community-based ‘sense of place’ funding is prompting a re-think by Whangarei District Council.

Whangarei District Council received 530 submissions against Gomez Road proposal in its Draft 2012-2022 Long Term Plan, and only five submissions in support.

It also received strong objection to the cancellation of seal extensions, originally brought about by the New Zealand Transport Agency’s decision to cut subsidies for this category of work.

Along with this feedback came a noticeable increase in the number of submissions from community groups wanting to engage in community-spirited projects that needed relatively minor Council investment.

As a result Council will be deliberating on (among other things) dropping the Gomez road project all together, reallocating $100,000 a year towards community based projects and $600,000 towards 2-3km of road seal extension a year, and increased funding for cycleways and walkways.

The Councillors will meet on Tuesday to deliberate on any final changes to the Long Term Plan that sets the direction for Council’s works and finances for the next ten years.

To assist their decision making they will refer to an agenda item that summarises the submissions received on the draft Long Term Plan, analyses them, comments on them and makes recommendations regarding the path to take in each area.

Although the item makes recommendations, Councillors will debate the issues at the meeting and only the decisions made at the meeting will be final.  Following the deliberations staff will finalise the Plan, it will be passed to Audit New Zealand for vetting.

Once this process is complete the final document will be presented to Council for adoption on 27 June, at which point the rates will be set for the next year.

While the LTP sets out the main milestones for the Council for the next ten years, it is reviewed every three years, and there is also an annual planning process that adds in finer detail of work and finances.

Informal summary of the agenda item

This year Council focused on five Key Issues in the Plan (as well as its other core functions).  These were Sense of Place, Economic Growth, the Hundertwasser Art Centre, Wastewater and Levels of Service.

Recommendations councillors will consider on Tuesday include increasing the funding for Sense of Place projects in centres outside the central city by $100,000 a year to be directed towards projects that support communities’ “Sense of Place”.

Submitters’ broad support for economic growth initiatives focused on Council making its processes simpler and more supportive of business, and supporting the deep water port and Marsden rail link. Other submitters were keen to see economic growth promoted by private enterprise and for Council to stick to its core business. No changes to the plan were recommended in this area.

The agenda item contains a detailed analysis of the submissions on the proposed Hundertwasser Art Centre, which was referred to by over 1200 submitters, along with 847 signatories to the Northern Advocate’s submission and 891 petitioners in support (The Bach), and 35 petitioners against (W.Carr).

The recommendation is that the Centre stays in the Plan, and that Council seeks additional funding for it from external sources.

It is recommended that the wastewater projects and funding proceed as outlined in the draft plan, and it was recommended $600,000 a year be allocated to seal two to three kilometers of unsealed roads over the next 10 years.

In the financial area, no changes were proposed to the draft plan, which indicates an increase in rates that matches the Local Government Cost index (currently 3.52%) and a maximum debt of $161million.

Finally, strong opposition to the proposal for a multi-sports park at Gomez road resulted in a recommendation that the project be removed from the plan, and that staff look at other options for these sports.

Council received 1946 submissions, and 186 submitters spoke to Councillors over five days last week.