Annual Report 2022/23

Stratford District Council adopted its 2022/23 Annual Report at its Ordinary Meeting on 10 October 2023. A summary and the full report can be viewed online here.

Highlights from the last year include:

• Completion of Wai O Rua Stratford Aquatic centre, on budget and on time
• Completion of the second water trunk main between the Stratford water treatment plant and Stratford township
• Successful advocacy resulting in progressing the sealing work on the historically unsealed stretch of State Highway 43, along with a suite of other safety improvements
• School safety improvements completed outside Stratford High School
• Responses from our annual customer survey showed residents’ are continually impressed with the level of service across our facilities. The Stratford Library, Visitor Information Centre, and Parks and Walkways received high ratings from residents, with 96%, 94%, and 90% levels of satisfaction respectively. The Aquatic Centre received 84% satisfaction, and Customer Service interactions achieved 83%.

Chief Executive Sven Hanne says last year once again saw Council become the recipient of significant grants from a range of central government reforms and other initiatives. “A number of these came with tight delivery deadlines which meant that planned projects had to take a back seat,” said Sven.

“Contractor availability and cost increases across the board further meant that completion of our planned projects dropped to 59% of the overall work programme. The delayed projects are however not lost as they have been rolled over into the following year.”

When crunching the numbers, Council finished the year with a net surplus of $3,171,000 and revenue slightly above budget due to rates income as well as other revenue exceeding budget expectations.

At $13.4 million, capital expenditure for the financial year was significantly below the $24.4 million of the previous year as council completed some of the major infrastructure projects listed above.

For a breakdown on council activities and financial statements read the full Annual Report 2022/23 here.