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Consultation opens on roading “catch-up” LTP

The opportunity to have your say on how the council allocates its spending for the next three years starts on Tuesday 26 March and will run for a month.

The opportunity to have your say on how the council allocates its spending for the next three years starts on Tuesday 26 March and will run for a month.

The council formally adopted the Long Term Plan 2024-27 (LTP) consultation document at an Extraordinary Meeting on Tuesday 12 March.

The LTP usually looks 10 years ahead but back-to-back weather events in 2022 and 2023, including Cyclone Gabrielle, had a significant impact on Far North infrastructure. The weather caused 487 slips – 140 by Cyclone Gabrielle alone. The repair bill for the district’s road network has been estimated at $41 million with $15 million of those repairs now completed.

Recognising the extra financial and capacity challenges faced by some local authorities, the government is allowing eight councils, including Far North District Council, to produce LTPs that cover three years instead of 10.

Speaking at the Extraordinary Meeting, Kahika Mayor Moko Tepania said this current LTP should be treated as a “catch-up plan” to enable the district to recover from the effects of recent weather events. The shortened LTP includes a total rates increase of 16.5 per cent for 2024/25, followed by 7.9 per cent for 2025/26 and then 4.6 per cent in the third year of the LTP.

Kahika Tepania said that while this is historically high for FNDC, it is on a par with many other councils. According to Local Government New Zealand, 25 out of 48 councils are proposing rate increases of between 14 and 16 per cent.

“Three Waters legislation, spiralling inflation, increased insurance and contractor costs, combined with our bill for infrastructure recovery saw the council initially looking at a rate increase around 33 per cent. Councillors and staff undertook a line-by-line examination of projects and budgets and have reduced that figure to 16.5 per cent.”

While the district’s transport network will be the spending priority over the next three years, there are other proposals the council is asking for community feedback on. These proposals are:

  1. Changing the way council charges stormwater rates across the district
  2. Changing the way water and wastewater services are rated
  3. Changing how the council delivers community services.

Information on options for each proposal are on our Have Your Say webpage where submitters can say which option they prefer, as well as expand on their responses.

Feedback can be submitted via the digital survey on our Have Your Say webpage or by completing a printed form available at our Kaikohe, Kaitāia or Kerikeri service centres. ‘Pop up’ events will also be held in Kaikohe, Kaitāia and Kerikeri. Our Have Your Say webpage will be updated with the locations and times of these events as they are confirmed.

This is your one-in-three-year chance to influence the direction and priorities that affect you and your communities. Please share your feedback before the consultation closes on Sunday 28 April.  

Key LTP dates

  • 26 March to 28 April – consultation with our communities.
  • 30 April (Kaikohe HQ), 1 May (Te Ahu, Kaitāia), 3 May (Kaikohe HQ) – verbal submission days.
  • 20 May, 23 May – deliberations meetings.
  • 26 June – meeting to adopt the plan.
  • 1 July – plan comes into effect.

Key facts

  • Sewerage systems are 30% more expensive to build than three years ago.
  • Roads and water supplies are 27% more expensive to build than three years ago.
  • More than $322 million has been allocated to new works and road renewals over the next five years.