Your quick guide to the Long Term Plan

The Council’s draft Long Term Plan is now out for feedback until Sunday 21 April.

If you want to hold your own in a discussion with a friend or family member about what the Draft Plan proposes, here’s your quick guide to the basics.

What is a Long Term Plan?
The Long Term Plan (LTP) outlines what the Council has planned for the next 10 years. It’s our contract with the community. It sets out the services we’ll provide and major projects we’ll undertake, what they’ll cost, how they’ll be funded and what rates will need to be for the next 10 years. Every local council in New Zealand has to do one every three years.

How much money are we spending?
We’re proposing a $16.8 billion budget over 10 years – $9.1 billion of that on the day-to-day services the Council provides like waste collection and libraries, and $6.5 billion of that on the Council’s programme of capital works, which will make sure we can do all the work we need to do, and deliver it in the timeframe we’ve set.

It also means $226 million on road, footpath and cycleway renewals, and $480 million on renewing and upgrading our water networks, in the first three years.

How will this affect my rates?
For the average household, we’re proposing a 12.4% rates increase, which comes to $8 a week. The proposed overall average for all properties, including business and rural, is 13.24%.

Is the Council making any savings?
We’re making cost savings and adding revenue of $6 million in 2024/25. Over the whole 10 years, we’ve identified $41 million of operational cost savings and additional revenue, without affecting the current levels of service.

Making these savings is always a balancing act – we want to keep providing you with the levels of service you expect, while keeping rates affordable and giving us what we call “debt headroom”, which means we can borrow comfortably in case there’s some unexpected event, like COVID-19.

How can I give feedback on this?
Your feedback will help shape this plan. Every LTP we make changes based on the feedback we receive, and this may mean adjustments to rates, debt and service levels.

Before you get back to us, take some time to read our consultation document and think about our proposed plan. Have we got the balance between rates and spending right? Have we prioritised the right things? If not, what changes would you like to see?

Visit ccc.govt.nz/longtermplan to make your submission, or pop into your nearest library or service centre and ask for a form. You can also ring us on (03) 941 8999, provide your details and a good time for us to call, and one of our team will be in touch.