News media release

12 April 2008

Greater Wellington plan consultation half way through, public urged to make submissions

With two weeks to go until consultation on Greater Wellington’s long term plan and our Proposed Revenue and Financing Policy ends, people from throughout the region are being encouraged to think about what kind of region they want in the next 10 years.

“It’s important to Council that people’s thoughts about the region’s future are translated into submissions that guide us on making decisions based on community views. We are elected by you to make decisions on your behalf – but we can’t act for you if we haven’t heard from you,” says Greater Wellington Chair Cllr Chris Laidlaw.

The proposals planned for the next decade would require an annual average increase over the next financial year of $30.89 or $2.57 per month for residential ratepayers across the region.

Key drivers of this increase include ongoing investment in Greater Wellington’s public transport transformation programme - including the range of fare discounts for public transport users planned for introduction this year for students, children, disabled people and off-peak travel. Other critical areas are work in flood protection, freshwater and biodiversity programmes, and building more resilience into core infrastructure.

“As part of the long term planning process, we have also taken the opportunity to review our Revenue and Financing Policy,” says Cllr Laidlaw. “This policy sets out how we allocate rates across the region and among different groups of ratepayers. We propose changing how we allocate funding through rates for our work around public transport and flood management, and we want your feedback on these changes.

“The changes to this policy are intended to spread the costs of these core services more equitably. Ratepayers who get the most benefit pay the largest share of the costs. However, we are open to the views of our community and welcome their feedback on the proposed plans, or any other key issues they community wishes to feedback on to Council.” says Cllr Laidlaw. “There are a number of choices being offered on key projects and we are looking for ratepayers’ opinions on these”.

ENDS

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