Draft LTP submissions make 2 things clear for Council
On Tuesday 14 May, Stratford District Council (SDC) elected members reviewed and deliberated on all 80 submissions received on the district’s draft Long Term Plan 2024-34.
District Mayor Neil Volzke says, “Conversations with our community during the consultation period and the submissions we received made two things very clear. That a rate increase more than 15% is pretty hard to swallow, and that our community values the services we provide and does not want to see them reduced.”
“These two key messages aligned well with the realistic and back to basics approach that guided our decision making through the development of this Long Term Plan,” says Mayor Volzke.
During the proceedings, gratitude for those who took the opportunity to voice their thoughts was shared around the chamber from elected members.
Deputy Mayor Min McKay who chaired the hearing says, “While submission numbers weren’t high, elected members were pleased to see a range of viewpoints that both challenged and supported the decisions that had gone into the draft LTP. We especially thank the 12 submitters who made themselves available to come and speak to their feedback as part of the hearing process.”
“A variety of ideas and information from our community and beyond was included in the submissions, which had us discussing the ins and outs of the plan in great detail until late in the evening,” she says.
Across the key issues presented in the Consultation Document, submissions overall showed support for strengthening the TET Multisport Stadium and War Memorial Centre, and leaving the Glockenspiel alone until further down the track. Retaining the existing level of service for road maintenance and increasing water infrastructure resilience by replacing the raw water delivery line to the water treatment plant also had community support.
The TSB Pool Complex had a more divisive response on the plan of action, with just over half responding to the question keen to see it demolished, and the rest wanting either nothing done to it, or for a detailed seismic assessment carried out and expressions of interest invited from the community to repurpose it.
Elected members debated the pros and cons of these options in detail, before eventually settling back on the original proposal to demolish in 2024/25 and return the area to grass. Any future development of the site would include consultation with the community at that point.
Other key areas of interest from submitters included the Brecon Road Bridges project, the Forestry Differential Roading Targeted Rate, the state of our roads both local and the state highways managed by Waka Kotahi, cleaning up Broadway with a particular emphasis on shop frontages, Wai o Rua – Stratford Aquatic Centre services, and the importance of keeping rates down.
Deputy Mayor McKay says, “We’ve worked hard to strike a balance between maintaining services to meet the expectations of our community and minimising rates increases as best as possible in the current financial climate.”
“Not all submitters will be pleased with the outcome of our deliberations. But I want them to know that every thought and opinion shared with us through the submission process helps us to better understand the community we serve.”
“Managing the push and pull, and finding a balance that we believe will be a positive outcome for the whole community, is what democracy is all about. I encourage everyone to take up the opportunities available to be part of community conversations and consultation processes as we move forward,” she says
So, what was the outcome of deliberations?
- Average rates increase for Year 1 slightly decreased from what was proposed to 15.48%
- Strengthening of the TET Multi-Sport Stadium to enable the building to be used as a civil defence centre will begin in Year 3, 2026/27.
- Strengthening of the War Memorial Centre to the minimum level required to no longer be considered earthquake prone and an earthquake risk will begin in Year 5, 2028/29
- Any strengthening work on the Glockenspiel remains in the plan for year 10, 2033/34, which means there are 2 more Long Term Plan processes to go through before a final decision is made on that building.
- Demolition of the old TSB Pool Complex facility will go ahead in Year 1, 2024/25.
- Council’s road maintenance budget will match what’s required to retain the existing level of service, which means a 14% increase in the operational spend for year 1.
- Replacement of the old raw water delivery line to the Stratford water treatment plant will begin in Year 1, 2024/25 and take 2 years to be completed.
- The proposed Forestry Differential Roading Targeted Rate will go ahead as planned, increasing the amount collected to $350,000 and including blocks of forestry that are 10 hectares or more in size. For properties that are not primarily forestry but have a block of forestry at least 10 hectares in size, the rate is applied only to the portion of the property that is used for forestry, not to the whole property.
- The Brecon Road Bridge project was brought forward from Year 4 to Year 2 on the condition that Waka Kotahi approve co-funding. Council will know the outcome of co-funding by the end of Year 1, 2024/25 to determine if the project can begin at the earlier time. If co-funding is not achieved this will be pushed back. There is no impact on rates in Year 1 or 2 of the plan with this amendment.
- Some amendments to capital projects were made with budget carry over from the current financial year to 2024/25 and the current budget for print advertising was retained to continue the existing Central Link delivery.
- A change in funding for three waters projects was made by reallocating external Better Off Funding to these projects. These were originally set at being loan funded.
- The Town Centre Upgrade is now set at loan funding and reduced to $300,000 in Year 1 from $500,000.
- Changes to the Fees and Charges schedule were made, including:
- Removal of facsimile charges
- Amending the Wai o Rua Swim School fee to include entry at $145 per term
- Amending the full pool complex hire fee to include use of the multipurpose room
- Decrease in cost for the commercial strip hire fee at the Aerodrome
- Amendment to Licence to Occupy charge under Roading, moving from a land value based charge to a fixed fee.
- Minor wording changes for consistency across other documents
View the Hearing agenda including submissions received online here.
Minutes of the meeting will be available online later this month.
Next steps
- All submitters will receive a written response from Council in the next few weeks.
- The draft Long Term Plan now goes to Auditors for their review. This is estimated to take 6 weeks.
- The Long Term Plan will then come back to Council for final consideration and adoption in early July 2024.
- Rates will be set at the time of adoption and come into effect not long after that.