Have your say on our proposed 10-Year Plan

Posted on 23 March 2009

The proposed 10-Year Plan 2009-12, incorporating the Annual Plan 2009/10

Greater Wellington Regional Council is seeking written submissions on matters raised in its proposed 10-Year Plan for the period 2009 to 2019.

This proposed 10-Year Plan includes a number of initiatives that expand current activities or are new. These range from improvements in public transport improvements and possum control to an increased commitment to the region's economic development agency, Grow Wellington.

"These are such different services, impacting often on different parts of our community, that the trade-offs required in times of recession are quite difficult judgement calls," Greater Wellington's Chair Fran Wilde says.

"We have scrutinised all of our programmes carefully and in a number of cases have changed the timeframe so as to have less expenditure in the first year of the plan.

"For example we have long had plans for two new regional parks - Whitireia and Wairarapa Moana (Lakes Wairarapa and Onoke and their surrounding wetlands). Rather than abandoning these because of short-term financial stresses, we are proposing treating them as long-term projects, beginning with small and affordable steps. We need your views on what we should do.

"Greater Wellington's proposed 10-Year Plan is an opportunity for people to see the ‘big picture' - as far as we can judge it. Local government is bound under law to produce a 10-Year Plan every three years. Even if this were not the case, we would certainly have a strategic plan - though perhaps it would look a little different to this model which must meet statutory requirements.

Greater Wellington Regional Council is also consulting with the public on a proposal to increase its income from rates and levies by 2.6% for the 2009/10 financial year. The proposed increase is an average across all properties in the region, so some residents would pay more or less than this amount, depending on the level of targeted rates for work such as flood management schemes or transport.

The 2.6% figure is made up of all Greater Wellington's rates across the region and the water levy that is charged to Upper Hutt, Hutt, Porirua and Wellington cities. The proposed increase in overall rates revenue, without the water levy being included, is 3.4% across the region. No increase in the Council's water levy is proposed for 2009/10.

The increase in required revenue includes an additional $500,000 for the Wellington Regional Strategy - 0.66% of the proposed total increase. This amount has been unanimously recommended by the Wellington Regional Strategy Committee which includes the mayors of the region's cities and districts.

"In considering the proposed increase, we were painfully aware of the potential effect of the downturn across our region," Council Chair Fran Wilde said. "The consultation process over the next few months will give us an idea of affordability, as well as of the priority that the community places on our services, and we will make a final decision in late June.

"We have had a very careful look at all of our Council's programmes and have been prudent.

Costs in one of our largest expenditure areas - public transport - are significantly affected by the price of oil and the strength of the New Zealand dollar. This year the sharp drop in oil prices has enabled us to build up the transport reserve so we will be using this to cushion rates rises next year.

"Greater Wellington's expenditure is projected to increase significantly from 2010/11 as a result of commitments already made for new trains and also agreements with local communities for flood protection work. Obviously this will require higher rates, but it is important to note that central government is also making a large investment in rail infrastructure, with taxpayers meeting around 90% of our total capital costs," Fran Wilde says.

The public consultation period for Greater Wellington's proposed 10-Year Plan runs from 23 March until 4.00pm Friday 24 April 2009. Hearings are scheduled for 13-15 May 2009.

A copy of the proposed 10-Year Planis available fordownload in the Publications & Reports section. There is also an online submission form.