Last week, Whakatāne District Council Elected Members agreed to begin consultation for the draft Long Term Plan 2024-34 and its supporting documents, with the Mayor and Councillors making it clear they’re expecting community feedback and are listening.

Whakatāne District Mayor, Dr Victor Luca, opened the Environment, Energy and Resilience Committee meeting with a summary of the process to date and highlighted the significant challenges that the current financial environment has presented.

“The financial landscape is now vastly different from what we were facing three years ago, and in fact, anything we’ve seen in recent history. Councils around New Zealand, and across the ditch in Australia, are experiencing similar issues. This has put us into a deficit that we now need to balance, and it’s important that we do this in a financially prudent way while recognising that rates affordability is also a crucial factor for many members of our community, and for me” says Mayor Luca.

“After many trade-offs were made between the needs and desirables, the time has come to present a draft budget. As much as I am not happy with where we have landed, the community can now have their say.”

The Long Term Plan Consultation Document provides an overview of the challenges Council is facing and the opportunities that need to be considered for the next 10 years. Four key questions are being asked of communities with three options for each, including a preferred option that draft budgets have been based on.

•    How should we scale, stage and fund necessary upgrades to the Rex Morpeth Recreation Hub?
•    How should we manage food waste collection?
•    How quickly should we close our funding gap?
•    How should we distribute rates increases across the properties in our district?

Public consultation opens today (Tuesday, 12 March 2024) and will run through until Friday 12 April 2024. There is an opportunity for people to include more detail alongside their response to each key question, and it is also possible to provide other feedback.

There are a range of ways people can have their say, including community hui and events, hardcopy submission forms and through the Council’s website. Residents are encouraged to keep an eye their letterboxes, as a summary of the Consultation Document will be delivered to everyone across the district. This summary outlines the current situation faced by local government and includes more information about the key consultation questions.

The consultation process also includes an opportunity for people to speak about their submissions to the Mayor and Councillors in a formal setting. After submissions have been considered, deliberations will take place before the final plan is adopted on 20 June 2024.

To find out more about the Long Term Plan 2024-34, or to have your say, visit the Council website.