Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) has today officially adopted its Annual Plan for 2025/26, following a robust public consultation process and strategic council deliberations that reflected the voices of communities across the region.

The plan sets out the council’s priorities and budget for the coming financial year, with a sharpened focus on public transport, resource consent fees, and community support.

The plan also acts as a bridge between the council’s Long-Term Plan and the evolving needs of the Waitaha/Canterbury region, with a continued focus on environmental regulation and protection, community preparedness and response to hazards and public transport.

A total of 744 submissions were received during the consultation period from 28 February to 3 April, with particularly strong engagement from residents in Selwyn and Christchurch.

Smarter spending, lower rates

One of the most significant outcomes is a reduced average total rates increase of approximately 5.8% — a notable drop from the 9.9% proposed during consultation and well below the 15.5% forecast in Year 2 of the Long-Term Plan 2024-34. This reduction was achieved through deferring certain public transport projects and identifying broader organisational savings.

Key decisions from May deliberations

• Public Transport: The proposed Darfield to Rolleston bus trial will not proceed. Instead, enhancements will be made to Route 85 (Rolleston to City direct) and Route 86 (Darfield to City direct), subject to fleet availability.
• Community support: Increased funding for community vehicle trusts was approved, alongside the development of a strategic framework to guide future public transport requests outside the Greater Christchurch and Timaru networks.
• Fees and Charges: Updates to resource consent fees were confirmed, with a new Fees and Charges Schedule coming into effect on 1 July 2025.

Community voices at the heart

Canterbury Regional Council Chair Craig Pauling said he was pleased the Council had adopted the Plan, which was informed by valuable community feedback.

“We appreciate everyone who took the time to provide us with their feedback and experiences during the drafting process for this Plan.

“Many of the final decisions that we made were informed by community feedback which is something that my Councillors and I are proud of.

“We feel that we have landed in a good place for the region and are looking forward to supporting our staff to deliver the Plan over the next twelve months.”

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