Feedback on fee increases and Annual Plan is open
We're reviewing our three-year Long Term Plan and the fees and charges for council services, and we want to hear from you. Are we on the right track? Have your say before feedback closes on Tuesday, 15 April 2025.
The Annual Plan builds on the second year of the Long Term Plan (2024-27). It outlines what the council plans to do in the coming year, how much it will cost, and how it will fund it. It acts as a roadmap for the council's activities and resource allocation.
The council has reviewed its budgets to ensure spending will deliver essential services and planned improvements to infrastructure.
Checking in on the Annual Plan
The Annual Plan continues the focus on repairing our transport network and making infrastructure upgrades set out in the shortened Long Term Plan (2024-27). While no significant changes have been made since this Long Term Plan was adopted, the council wants to ensure our communities have an opportunity to provide feedback on the Annual Plan 2025/26. This will be a less formal and less costly ‘inform only’ process.
Feedback on fees and charges
Each year, the council reviews its fees and charges to ensure they are fair and accurately reflect the cost of providing services. For 2025/26 an overall increase of 2.6 per cent is being proposed, which is in line with inflation. Targeted adjustments are also being incorporated to better align fees with costs – so some fees will rise by less than 2.6 per cent and some won’t increase at all.
To ensure council services remain sustainable, the following changes are proposed:
- Animal control – adjusting impounding and daily handling fees for dogs.
- Building consents – updating various fees, including swimming pool inspections being charged out at the actual cost.
- Bylaw enforcement – introducing new fees for the return of seized noise equipment.
- Libraries – removing fees for faxing services.
- Resource consents – changing some fixed fees to being charged at an hourly rate.
Feedback on the Annual Plan 2025/26 and proposed fees and charges will be open until 15 April, after which it will be presented to our elected members for consideration. The final Annual Plan and Fees and Charges Schedule, including any changes made in response to community feedback, will be formally adopted at the end of June and come into effect from 1 July 2025.
Detailed information about both proposals is available on the councils Have-your-say webpage, where feedback can be shared via an online submission form.
Submissions can also be provided via email, in person at any FNDC service centre or library (where submission forms can be printed on request), or by mail. Alternatively, you can request to share your feedback verbally by emailing submissions@fndc.govt.nz.
All feedback must be received by Tuesday 15 April 2025.