Marlborough District Council has adopted its annual report for the 2024/25 financial year.

The report highlights forward progress in a number of areas but particularly the building of increased resilience into the region’s roading, water and flood protection infrastructure.

Mayor Nadine Taylor said she was proud of the strides that continued to be made while also ensuring the protection of Marlborough’s environment and enhancing the wellbeing of its communities.

“There is always so much to mention when we look back over a year in local government. One of the significant milestones for the management of our natural and physical resources was the approval of most of the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) during this period.

“We now have a single integrated plan for Marlborough which greatly simplifies our resource management framework. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work by Council and the community over a long period.”

Mayor Taylor said the Marlborough Sounds roading recovery project continued to restore and build resilience into the region’s remote Sounds roads following the weather events of 2021 and 2022. In total $130M worth of repairs has already been completed by the Marlborough Roads Recovery Team as part of phases one, two and three of the programme.

“We have made great steps towards re-establishing these vital transport links with our Sounds communities and continuing our journey towards a more resilient and future-proofed Marlborough roading network,” she said.

The final phase is now underway with a programme of work which will continue until early 2028.

Mayor Taylor said it was also satisfying in the 2024-25 year to see how Marlburians embraced the region’s kerbside collection service which began on 1 July 2024.

“Together we have roughly doubled the amount of plastic and glass recycling being collected and diverted from landfill in 12 months. It’s great to see that resident satisfaction with the service has also jumped considerably, to 84 per cent.

“Despite the recent setback of the fire at the Resource Recovery Centre in Wither Road, Blenheim, I want to encourage everyone to continue their great work to get our recycling sorted – and think carefully about what you place in your recycling bin,” she said.

In early July, after hearings, another significant milestone was Councillors approving the establishment of a new water services organisation (WSO) for Marlborough.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do things differently to build better three waters infrastructure and provide greater intergenerational equity, spreading the costs over the long term,” Mayor Taylor said.

The WSO will be incorporated from 1 July next year with a one-year transition to full operations from 1 July 2027. Council will be its sole shareholder, appoint an independent professional board of directors and set its direction via a binding statement of expectations, holding it accountable to the people of Marlborough.

The 2024/25 annual report will be made available on Council’s website at www.marlborough.govt.nz

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