Thursday 24 March 2016

Council agrees on draft Annual Plan for public feedback

Christchurch City Council today agreed on a draft Annual Plan that proposes to cap the average rates increase at five per cent for the 2016-17 financial year and for a further two years after that.

The Council discussed its draft Annual Plan 2016-17 today and agreed a version for public consultation.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel says that by being realistic about the timing of major projects and making operational savings and settling insurance, the Council has achieved a lower than planned rates increase of 5 per cent, without needing to release any additional capital in 2016-17.

"We've adopted a realistic draft Annual Plan after undertaking a complete review of our capital programme as promised when we released our Long Term Plan last year," says Mayor Lianne Dalziel.

"We are being realistic about how many projects we can complete in the coming year and have budgeted accordingly.

"This has been a challenging process but we are very willing to bring funding forward once projects are ready to go and that was clearly signalled today. The Woolston/Linwood pool and final stages of the Christchurch Coastal Pathway are two of the projects that will be fast-tracked if possible."

Because of the proposed changes to the capital programme, the Council is having to amend its Long Term Plan while it considers the Annual Plan for the year ahead.

Changes made to the proposed draft Annual Plan today include:
Head to Head Walkway: $50,000 for consultation and design in the 2017-18 financial year for the proposed walkway around Lyttelton Harbour
· Manuka Cottage: An additional $120,000 for this Addington community development project in the 2016-17 financial year
· Cemetery charges: No increase to the cost of adult burial plots for 12 months to allow further investigation
· Hagley Park parking: An increase to $2 in the fee paid to the Council for Hagley Park car parking to help recover the cost of repairing turf damage
· St Albans Park pavilion and park repair: $50,000 for St Albans Park pavilion and park repair will be moved forward to the 2016/17 financial year so community consultation and design work can get underway.

Public submissions open on Wednesday 6 April and close on Tuesday 10 May. After considering this feedback and making changes, the Council will adopt a final version of the Annual Plan in late June. For more information see www.ccc.govt.nz/annualplan.

- ends -

© Scoop Media