Selwyn_Times: December 13, 2023

Wednesday December 13 2023 Selwyn Times
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 5
spends to keep the district going
“Population growth in
the district exceeded budget
expectations leading to a
continued fast-paced housing
development sector,” council
executive director for enabling
services Tim Harris said in the
annual report.
The council’s core operating
expenditure for the year was
$165.9 million – $16.6 million
over the budget.
The overspend was attributed
to a range of things including
extra road maintenance costs due
to flooding, consulting fees, and
revaluing of assets.
Mayor Sam Broughton received
a salary of $144,347, deputy
mayor Malcolm Lyall received
$61,647 and councillors received
$51,374.
The council also bought a new
mayoral car, a Kia Ev6 Air Long
Range for $68,511.
Chief executive David Ward,
who retired on June 30, was paid
$435,847 compared to $364,859
in the 2021/22 financial year.
All remunerations, including
the car, were approved by the
Remuneration Authority.
The number of people employed
by the council increased
from 509 to 586.
The council’s core revenue for
the year was $198.7 million, $25.5
million higher than the predicted
PROJECTS: The ReDiscover Hub at the Pines Resource
Recovery Park, Burnham was one of the projects the
council completed over the 2022/23 financial year.
$173.2 million.
The council spent $17.019 million
on operating costs for the
transport network and $24.63
million on capital expenditure
projects upgrading the network.
The council maintained more
than 3000km of roads, footpaths,
and cycleways, 2487km of
bridges, and 8,856 streetlights.
The council completed
12,541km of grading on unsealed
roads, 72km of sealed and
unsealed road renewals, 3300m
of footpath renewals, 350m of
kerb and channel renewals, 113m
of culvert renewals, 2623m of
footpath extensions and 3504m
of shared path construction.
The council failed to meet its
resealing target of 75km, only
resealing 23.66km.
The report said: “An increased
focus on maintenance was required
and this, together with the
increasing costs of resurfacing,
meant only a small amount of
resealing was completed.”
The council spent $35.331
million on operating costs for its
community facilities, including
parks, community centres, sports
centres, swimming pools and
libraries, and $15.249 million
on capital expenditure projects,
upgrading and building new
facilities.
The council provided and
maintained 591 reserves and
playgrounds, and 748ha of recreation
reserves.
It recorded 460,865 admissions
at Selwyn Aquatic Centre in the
last financial year, with 21,532
people attending council events,
and 80,340 attendees at fitness
programmes.
During the financial year, 2688
building consents were issued
and 706 resource consent applications
were processed.
Of those consents, 77 per cent
of resource consents were issued
on time and 60 per cent of building
consents were issued on time.
In the past financial year residents
have reduced the amount
of rubbish going to landfill,
achieving a 11 per cent reduction
in total waste to landfill per
capita and achieved a 30 per cent
reduction in contamination of
kerbside recycling. The council
spent $14.143 million on operating
costs for waste management.
Eighty per cent of residential
properties in Selwyn are serviced
with water and 67 per cent of
residential properties are serviced
by the council’s wastewater
systems.
The council spent $12.013
million on operating costs for
water and wastewater, and
$10.465 million on capital
expenditure projects upgrading
the network.
“Residents tend to be high users
of water, using an average of
0.367m 3 of water per person a day
in the 2022/23 year,” the report
said.
“This can be attributed to
mostly outdoor use; residents
tend to have larger sections and
therefore wish to maintain these
sections – with comparatively
low rainfall free-draining soils,
water use has historically been
high.”
WASTE: In the last financial year, the amount of rubbish
going to landfill was reduced by 11 per cent per capita.
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