DRAFT LTP book.indb - Hurunui District Council

www.hurunui.govt.nzOne of the most challenging aspects of preparing this plan isfi nding the right balance between delivering expected levels ofservice at an affordable cost. You, our residents and ratepayers,will be the best judge of how successful we have been at thisand we look forward to hearing your views and suggestions onour proposals. We constantly challenge ourselves over what isreasonable, what is sustainable into the future, who should pay,and how to meet the expectations of our communities. Wehave a new Local Government Minister, Nick Smith, who hassaid that rating increases over 6.8% are unacceptable. Normallywe would agree, but unfortunately, dramatic increases in ourinsurance costs, the new legislative requirement to meet NewZealand drinking water standards, and funding sewer andstormwater improvements, mean that for the 2012/13 year, thislevel of rating increase (as an average across the District) is areality.Our Draft Long Term Plan proposes a 7.15% district wide generalrate increase for 2012/2013 (which is below the previouslysignalled Long Term Plan increase of 7.50%). This increase is thehighest for any year in the 10 year plan. The average total rateincrease (including all amenity and targeted rates) for 2012/13is 6.94% (the previous Long Term Plan signalled an increase of4.89%). Our ten year projections all include infl ation.The primary causes for the increases in our rate projectionscan be attributed to the following items, which are all furtherexplained in the ‘key issues’ section of this plan.• Insurance has signifi cantly risen as a direct result of theCanterbury earthquakes and other natural disasters,such as the Queensland fl oods. We have traditionallyhad comprehensive insurance cover, and we havebudgeted to continue to do so.• We face huge capital outlay to become compliant withthe legislated New Zealand Drinking Water Standards.The good news is that we will no longer have any ofour water schemes on permanent boil water notices;but it comes at a price. We will be treating the water ofour at-risk drinking water intakes in the 2012/13 year.This will enable us to be compliant in the short termand will be applicable to those dwellings in the watersupply areas that require the treatment. Unfortunately,this is only an interim step and in the long term we willneed to upgrade our schemes by 2027. To make thisaffordable, we will commence rating for the estimated$14 million (in today’s dollars), in the 2015/2016 year.• In recent years, we have incurred signifi cant costs inupgrading some of our water supplies, sewer schemesand stormwater systems. The work undertaken hasresulted in increased debt for those activities and weare at a stage where the interest and debt repaymentsneed to be made and these have to be funded throughrates.There are a number of other aspects that have infl uenced thedevelopment of this draft Plan. We have been guided by ourproposed new vision of Community partnership in growth andwellbeing, as well as our core principles:• Focus on core services• Financial responsibility and affordability• Continuous improvement in service to everyone in ourdistrict• Facilitate appropriate growth in the districtOur vision going forward has been further developed from thevision in 2009 which was based on a ‘wellness’ concept – HurunuiWellness: “In Hurunui, we live the lives the rest of the world wouldlove to live”. Although this vision did receive good support fromour communities (82% supported it), we felt we could furtherdefine it. We wanted to convey that everything we do, we do inpartnership with our communities. When we have your supportfor our proposals, (and the services, infrastructure and facilitieswe provide and you pay for), we can have confi dence that weare meeting the aspirations or expectations of our communities,which then contributes to wellness and wellbeing. If you have aview on our vision, we would like to hear from you on it.We have decided to review our method of rating for tourismand general district promotion. This is one example of whereyour view and suggestions will help us to shape up a new modelfor funding this type of activity. We have not yet developedHurunui 10-Year Timeline2012/13Representation ReviewNine New Miox Water Treatment InstallationsTargeted Tourism Rate andDistrict Promotion ReviewEarthquake Prone Building AssessmentsCheviot Library RelocationLocal Government ElectionsEarthquake Prone Building Assessments2014/152013/14Central Government ElectionsEarthquake Prone Building AssessmentsHanmer Springs Community Hall ExtensionLong Term Plan ReviewDrinking Water upgradeHanmer Springs Sewerage TreatmentPlant UpgradeHanmer Springs Sports Stadium2015/162016/17Local Government ElectionsCheviot Medical Centre Upgrade orRebuild6