Hearing the voice of our communities is important to this council. I was pleased last week to see that commitment actioned in a very practical way as we held the line on the promised low rates increase while at the same time taking on board the record levels of feedback, we had through our consultation process.
It is a balancing act, and I believe we’ve got the balance right.
We consulted on a number of possible changes to service levels and fees. The feedback we received was very clear and in response we have amended our original thinking but stayed on track for our goal of not more than 3.8% rate increase.
We proposed cutting the mowing programmes across our parks and reserves. The feedback told us that wasn’t acceptable, and so we’ve kept them as they are. We’d considered stopping the Onehunga weed spraying. After hearing strong feedback, we’ve decided to keep it going. Gardens will stay too, perhaps with an adjustment to some better value-for-money plant types. We looked at reducing the days our refuse transfer stations are open. Communities told us they would prefer them being open seven days a week. We’ve done that and reduced the daily hours instead.
Beyond the items we formally consulted on, many of you added comments through the online submissions, or took the chance to talk things through with councillors and staff at our roadside and hall meetings.
We’ve taken those comments on board as well. They may not have changed items in this year’s annual plan, but they will carry weight as we develop the next long-term plan, work that is now underway.
For this Annual Plan, nearly $3 million has come out of overheads, works and consultant costs.
The final rate increase figure for next year is still to be finalised as there are a few things to factor in, such as the impact of storm damage. The low increase goal stays firmly in our sights, and we expect to confirm the final figure at the June council meeting.
Also last week, Council and Community Board chairs signed a new set of guildelines (the “Accord”) outlining how we will be working together. This is an important step given the significant role our boards play across the district. I have asked the Deputy Mayor to explain this in this issue of The Informer.
Finally, there’s the big one, the Government’s plan to simplify local government – the most significant change for district councils since 1989.
Thames Coromandel District Councillors are currently working through this in order to have an initial submission ready to meet the government’s deadline of 9 August.
The government has made it very clear that regional councils won’t exist after 2028 and therefore district councils must reorganise themselves, working together to develop a way to deliver both local and regional outcomes.
Last week we as a council commenced the process to get to that point. I can assure everyone that the process will include engagement with all of council’s stakeholders – ratepayers, communities, iwi, everyone.
We have announced a working group of five councillors supported by staff to lead the effort. This week we will let everyone know where they can find all the relevant information and how they can provide input to this submission.
It’s a substantial piece of work and a lot of the detail is still taking shape.
The government has called for all councils to develop high-level proposals to outline what this simplification could look like and taking into account the need to maintain local voice.
That is a process that we, your council, has begun. This is not a small body of work, but our first submission to the government needs to be completed by 9 August – just over 9 weeks away. It is a very ambitious time frame and there is a lot of detail that we are pulling together to ensure that we can meet that deadline. But here’s my commitment. Council will engage with our communities on this, and we’ll do it up front. I want everyone to have the chance to contribute and to be on the journey with us.
There are some key directives that we are needing to work within as we work on our submission:
- Submissions need to include at least one other council – a “going it alone” option will not meet the government’s expectation.
- Current council boundaries should not be a constraint.
- Improved efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed reorganisation is expected.
We are taking the government’s guidelines into account as we work on this. As Mayor, I am maintaining contact with virtually every other mayor in both the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty regions to understand how those other councils are thinking and progressing.
But the loudest message I want to give here is that although there is a lot of work involved, and although we have an extremely tight timeframe, the commitment of this council is to ensure that our communities will be engaged with the process. We will do it up front – not at the backend of the process – up front so that our communities are contributing to the initial proposal that we put to the government in August. I want everyone to have the chance to contribute and so be on the journey with us.
