2 March 2018

Wellington City Council releases 10-Year Plan

Wellington City Council will release its 10-Year Plan today.

Mayor Justin Lester says the Plan is consistent with the Council’s earlier stated priorities for the triennium.

“There is a strong focus on resilience and our local environment, housing, transport, celebrating a decade of culture and strengthening our economy,” he says.

“It’s always a challenge when prioritising investment in Wellington and our Council is working hard to keep rates affordable.

“Early projections for the 2018-19 year were that rates would come in at 7.2 percent, which was unacceptable.

“We’ve gone through the proposed 10-Year Plan with a fine-tooth comb. Our report released later today will show a rates increase of 4.3 percent, but we are committed to reducing that further to 3.9 percent, which I hope to introduce as an amendment next week.”

The Mayor says it is a balancing act.

“I’m determined that we will not cut services or jobs as part of bringing down rates.”

He is proposing to introduce discounted weekend parking fees to help keep rates down.

The proposal is for parking in the CBD to cost $2.50 an hour. On weekdays it costs $4.50 an hour to park in the CBD.

“We have two choices: ratepayers can pay a little more to subsidise free weekend parking or the people actually parking can pay $2.50 an hour. We have significant demand for car parks and I don’t think offering them for free helps that. This will encourage turnover.”

The draft 10-Year Plan will go online at about 6pm today. The Council will deliberate on 7 March and formal consultation will begin on 15 April.

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