Ashburton District Council is poised to adopt its draft Long Term Plan and budget for consultation this week, with a proposed 9.9% rates increase for 2024-25.

The Council plans to invest $1.07 billion into running the district over the next 10 years and pay off $152 million of debt.

A 36-page consultation document, Five for our Future, will be considered by Councillors at their meeting on Wednesday and, if adopted, will be out for public feedback on 27 March.

Mayor Neil Brown said the draft Long Term Plan for 2024-34 set out what Council planned to deliver and how it would pay for it.

“Rates will vary across the district, depending on where you live, but the average rise in year one is 9.9%. While many other places in the country are a lot higher than this, we know it's still a large increase at a time when many will be feeling the pinch, but it is what is necessary to maintain services and facilities that the community expects.

The average rate rise for councils across New Zealand for 2024-25 is sitting at 15.3%.

Mayor Brown said one reason for this rise across the country is that the cost of essential infrastructure has skyrocketed over the past three years.

“Civil construction costs have risen 27% over the last three years, so roads and three waters infrastructure are where we want to focus our investment. We’ve also planned to have lower debt levels at the end of this Long Term Plan than when we started.”

The draft Long Term Plan will ask residents for their views on five other decisions, and related policies, although feedback is welcomed on any part of the plan. There will be a month for people to make their submissions, with Councillors hosting a wide range of meetings and pop-up events to talk to the community about what is proposed.

The five decisions are:

• What should our kerbside green waste collection look like?
• If we invest in water-based leisure, where should it be?
• What should we do with Balmoral Hall and old Polytech land?
• Should we get out of providing stockwater?
• Should we extend the EA Networks Centre stadium?

Mayor Brown said the community had already been talking about some of the topics.

“That’s great, and we hope to see those conversations come through in submissions on the plan. All councils are struggling with rates rises due to inflation, interest and other factors, so knowing what our residents view as a priority is essential.”

Rates on an average Ashburton residential property worth $441,000 will rise by an extra $5 a week for 2024-25, under the proposed Long Term Plan, the average annual rate rise over 10 years is 6.47%.

More information about the draft Long Term Plan will be on the Council’s public engagement website – itsourplace.nz and printed copies of the consultation document will also be available.