From the desk of Mayor Neil Brown

It’s been straight back to business as usual this week, with a day-long workshop for more discussion on the Long Term Plan.

This is where we think about infrastructure and services the district will need in the next 10 years, and plan in more detail for the first three years.

We will be signalling a lot more money will be spent improving the district’s roads and on keeping our community drinking water supplies up to national standards. These two activities alone make up for more than half of the draft rates increase for 2024-25.

All the work that is planned will be out for public consultation in March and we hope as many residents as possible will tell us what they think. It’s always a balance between keeping rates rises modest but making sure the Ashburton district has all it needs to be an attractive place to live and work or do business – a challenge in the current environment with rising costs everywhere.

A project that came into Long Term Plans after being signalled as needed back in 2004 is coming to fruition and I’m pleased to see Te Whare Whakatere in the final stages of construction. The library will open on Monday 22 January and its space on the ground floor and Level 1 is light years from the old library building.

It has been a mission, hindered by covid, supply chain issues and trades availability, and all consequences, but the whole building will be an anchor in the CBD for decades to come.

Being able to plan for the future is a vital part of Council governance. We are in a good position financially and in infrastructure terms because of the sensible decisions made by councillors of the past. I hope that residents and visitors to our town will see the new library and civic building as a resilient piece of architecture, built to be used by the community.

There will be an official opening for the whole building later in the year, once we have confirmed some very important special guests.

A man who did a lot of long-term thinking for our district, and contributed much through his service to Council and civic affairs, sadly passed away on New Year’s Eve. John Leadley spent nearly 25 years in local government and was deputy mayor for 12 years; he was knowledgeable and well respected around the Council table, and will be missed by many.

I had the pleasure of working with him for a decade and his legacy lives on through the many projects and plans he was involved in over the years.

It was also my pleasure to send a letter of congratulations to David West, who was awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year’s Honours. David has spent more than 30 years leading the development of Lake Hood and its surrounds, another legacy for our district.