Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Council adopts Long-term Plan

After considering 187 submissions and hearing from 69 submitters, Horizons Regional Council today adopted its final plan for the next 10 years.

The Long-term Plan 2015-25 will guide the way the Region manages its land, air and water resources over the next 10 years and has been described by Horizons chairman Bruce Gordon as “a plan that reflects community needs”.

Audit New Zealand Audit Director Clint Ramoo says the process to develop Horizons’ Long-term Plan was smooth, resulting in a plan that provides a good basis for council decision-making and accountability to the community.

“There has been a well managed process around the development and consultation on the Long-term Plan. We can confirm we are in a position to issue an unmodified, unqualified Audit opinion,” he says.

One aspect added to the Plan since Council approved amendments to the Plan earlier in June, is mention of heavy rainfall that recently affected much of the Horizons Region.

“At this stage we are in the process of accessing the damage and the cost associated with reinstating our flood protection and drainage infrastructure. While we are not yet in a position to quantify the impact on our finances, we do expect it to be significant,” Mr Gordon says.

“It appears unlikely that the quantum of damage will be sufficient to trigger an insurance claim and accordingly reinstatement works will need to be funded by drawdowns on both individual scheme emergency reserves and the Infrastructure Reserve.

“Many of our communities will be feeling the effects of this event for a long time yet and Council intends to do whatever it can to help.”

The final Long-term Plan will be made publically available via the Horizons website within the next 1-2 weeks.

ENDS

© Scoop Media