Long Term Plan 2024-27
Our formal consultation for our Long Term Plan (LTP) proposals closed on 28 April. You can still view this page here. The final plan, Te Pae Tata - Three Year Long Term Plan 2024-27 was adopted on 26 June 2024.
The Long Term Plan (LTP) is the council's key strategic planning document, which will set out what we plan to do in the next three years and how we will pay for it. The LTP is an opportunity to think about the best way we can support our communities' social, cultural, environmental, and economic wellbeing. That means making sure our services – such as roading, water systems, libraries, and service centres – are fit for purpose and that we can afford to pay for them.
The LTP usually looks 10 years ahead, but the back-to-back weather events of 2022 and 2023 have had a significant impact on repair costs for our district. Because of this, the government is allowing the Far North and seven other councils in Aotearoa to reduce their Long Term Plan forecasts to just three years. This will allow the council to focus on repairing damaged infrastructure, particularly roads, and make the best use of government funding.
Consultation Summary
The consultation period ran from 27 March to 28 April 2024. We sought feedback on three key proposals:
- Issue 1: Should we change the way we rate stormwater across the district?
- Issue 2: Should we change the way we rate for those who access or could access water supply and wastewater services?
- Issue 3: How do we continue to provide community services in the future?
Throughout the consultation period, staff and elected members engaged with the community through six drop-in sessions and pop-up meeting events across the district, providing residents opportunities for one-on-one, in-depth discussions on the proposal.
We received 506 submissions during the consultation period. You can see the written feedback we received here: 2024-34 Long Term Plan - Submissions.
People who asked to present their views in person to our elected members were able to speak to their responses at our verbal submissions meetings held on 30 April, 1 May, and 3 May. Recordings of the hearings are available on the council’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
You can still read our consultation document here. If you still have questions, check out the ‘Supporting information’ section below for more in-depth information, and be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions.
What's next for our LTP?
- Te Pae Tata - Three Year Long Term Plan 2024-27 was adopted by the council on 26 June
- The plan came into effect on 1 July 2024.
What was decided at our LTP deliberations?
The council held deliberation meetings on 6 June and 13 June 2024 to discuss and debate the proposed issues as well as any other matters that arose from the submissions received.
In addition to the issues we asked for your feedback on, many submitters raised other issues that are of importance to them. We would like to acknowledge and thank everyone who submitted their thoughts, feedback and comments either in writing or verbally.
We asked this question because past severe weather events have significantly impacted our stormwater infrastructure, pushing it to its limits.
We needed to determine how to rate this activity going forward to address the increasing problems caused by more severe weather events and climate change effects. Additionally, we aimed to ensure that our stormwater program is delivered effectively, making our long-term investment resilient and future-proof.
Our preferred option was: Option 2 - Change to a targeted rate based on land use and introduce a public good rate.
What you told us
We received 374 responses to this issue.
Option | Percentage |
1. Status quo. | 45.7% |
2. Change to a targeted rate based on land use and introduce a public good rate. | 54.3% |
The council’s decision
The council decided in their deliberations meeting on 6 June to move to Option 2: Change to a targeted rate based on land use and introduce and introduce a public good rate of $10.00 per rating unit. This means the council can start tackling the issue by providing more funding to address it. For more information on our Stormwater and Drainage capital works programme for the next three years please see page 131 of the Long Term Plan document.
We requested feedback on this issue because the way these services are funded is difficult because of how our District is spread out, meaning we have to have a lot of water supply and wastewater schemes that supply services to our communities.
Some smaller communities end up paying more because there are less people living in that area and some larger communities pay less because there are more people who live there and use those services, so the cost can be spread out over a wider number of ratepayers.
What you told us
We received 358 responses on this issue.
Option | Percentage |
1. Status quo. | 33.5% |
2. Change to district-wide rates for those connected to / or have the ability to connect to water supply and / or wastewater services. | 34.9% |
3. Change to targeted ward rate for those connected to / or have the ability to connect to water supply and / or wastewater services. | 13.4% |
4. Change to targeted scheme-based operational rate for those connected to / or have the ability to connect to water supply and / or wastewater services. | 18.2% |
The council’s decision
The council resolved in their deliberations meeting on 6 June to continue with Option 1: Status quo and not to change the way we rate for water supply / wastewater services at this time.
With more people preferring to use online services, we wanted to know your thoughts about whether we should look at reducing the number of service centres / libraries / isite and information centres across the district or combining these into central locations.
Our preferred option was: Option 1 - Provide multi-purpose centres: two for Bay of Islands-Whangaroa, one each for Kaikohe-Hokianga, and Te Hiku.
What you told us
We received 400 responses on this issue.
Option | Percentage |
1. Provide multi-purpose centres: two for Bay of Islands-Whangaroa, one each for Kaikohe-Hokianga, and Te Hiku. | 25.0% |
2. Provide a multi-purpose centre for each ward. | 19.8% |
3. Status quo. | 55.3% |
The council’s decision
The council, after thorough deliberating this issue in their meeting, concluded to continue with Option 3: Status quo.
However, the council requested that staff conduct further work to explore additional cost-saving measures and look at how we provide these services in the future.
Additionally, the council emphasised that if any changes are to be made, it is essential to engage in further discussions with any affected communities to ensure their concerns and needs are addressed.
The council received numerous comments regarding the unaffordability of the proposed rate increases. In response, a further review of budgets was conducted to reduce the rate increase.
This included identifying additional operational cost reductions and conducting a final review of the capital works programme.
The review was also necessary due to the repeal of the 3 Waters legislation and its impacts, which required the inclusion of previously unidentified projects.
Additionally, there was an increased focus on providing more accurate cost estimates for some projects and adjusting the timing to ensure that the capital works program was evenly distributed over the three-year period to balance rate increases.
The council continued to work with its Council Controlled Trading Organisation - Far North Holdings Limited regarding their Statement of Intent and options for a special dividend.
After careful consideration and assessment, the Far North Holdings Board agreed to a special dividend payment.
As a result of the reviews and additional income, the council’s revised rate increase is now 4.5 percent for 2024/25.
Read the full summary of the consultation outcomes and decisions on page 10 of the final plan: Te Pae Tata - Three Year Long Term Plan 2024-27.
Stay up to date:
- Watch the recordings of our hearings and deliberations meetings on our YouTube channel
- Read the LGNZ report by Infometrics that sets out cost pressures and rising infrastructure costs that local councils are facing.