21 May 2024

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Councillors are reconvening to shape Christchurch City Council’s Long Term Plan 2024–2034.

With the public now having had their say, in writing and in person at hearings over the past weeks, the Mayor and Councillors are having their first briefing to discuss the feedback and start shaping the final Long Term Plan 2024–2034 (LTP).

Watch the briefings online here or in person at Te Hononga Civic Offices.

The Long Term Plan outlines the services and projects the Council will deliver over the coming decade, what it will spend money on and how it will pay for it.

During consultation, the Council proposed a $16.8 billion budget over the full 10 years, with $4.9 billion of that planned to be spent in the next three, and a proposed overall 13.24% rates increase in 2024/2025. Since consultation closed, Council staff have continued working on driving down the proposed rates increase. The rate is currently sitting at 12.1% overall – 2.17% of that for Te Kaha, Canterbury’s Multi-Use Arena.

In total, 7040 people submitted their views on the Draft LTP over March and April.

Mayor Phil Mauger says if there's one consistent theme to the feedback, it's that the community cares deeply about the future of our city.

“Our people are telling us they want an LTP that's affordable but that doesn't forget the things they care about,” Mayor Mauger says.

“Taken as a whole, the feedback is telling us people feel we haven’t got the mix quite right in this Draft LTP – but what’s not clear from the feedback is what we should do to bring things back into balance.

“Some people want us to find more savings, while others want us to provide additional support, or speed up work on some projects.  We've been saying all along that one person's must-have is another person's nice-to-have, and the LTP submissions reinforce this,” Mayor Mauger says.

“This means my colleagues on the Council and I will have a lot of tough calls to make over the next few weeks as we start making the case for our residents' competing priorities. It's great that people will be able to watch those discussions and see that process unfold.”

Read an analysis of the submissions here.

What you need to know:

  • Submitters want the Council to invest in core infrastructure, but there are differing views as to what core infrastructure is – to some, it's roads and footpaths, and to others it's active and public transport.
  • However, submitters were united in their support for investing in water infrastructure, both our drinking water supply and in managing stormwater to help avoid flooding.
  • There's significant backing for the Council to support Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre and Orana Park. Staff recommend further work to investigate how this could work.
  • Most submitters opposed extra funding for the Christ Church Cathedral rebuild, preferring support for the Arts Centre. Staff will engage with Christ Church Cathedral Rebuild Limited to explore options and report back to councillors.
  • At this stage staff do not recommend any changes to the Draft LTP’s proposals on bid funding for events, gifting Yaldhurst Memorial Hall, the Sports Field Network Plan, and changes to how some rates are charged.
  • In response to the feedback, staff also recommend boosting funding for climate adaptation acceleration by $1.8 million in 2025/26, boosting the biodiversity fund by $200,000 a year, and going with an option for charging for car parking at Hagley Park that allows free parking in the weekends.

The final Long Term Plan 2024–2034 is set to be adopted in June.