The annual budget for Hastings District Council will be reviewed before it goes out for public consultation in April, with staff asked to see where savings can be made.

At today’s full council meeting, an outline of the proposed 2022/23 Draft Annual Plan was presented.

It included key initiatives from the LTP that were approved in 2020, after public consultation. They are focused on the continued delivery of existing or improved levels of service across the wide range of Council activities.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said that when the LTP was approved, the pressures that have resulted from the COVID pandemic were not as evident – such as rising interest rates and the impact on our business community.

“We need to really mindful that people are hurting in our community, and we need to ensure we are charging fairly for the coming year.

“We consulted on a 6.4 per cent increase and would like to see it remain as such – we are in different times now to when we consulted on the Long Term Plan in 2020.”

At the meeting it was recommended that the Draft Annual Plan budget be reviewed to see what costs could be pared back to keep the increase at 6.4 per cent before it was presented to Council for adoption at the end of March.

The approved Draft Annual Plan 2022/23 would then go out to the community for consultation.

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