Long Term Plan 2021-31 Consultation

Te Mahere Pae Tawhiti 2021-31 - He Tuhinga Uiuinga

THE CONSULTATION PROCESS HAS CLOSED.

Thank you for your interest. The final Long Term Plan 2021-31 was adopted by Council on 14 July 2021, following consideration of all the submissions and feedback received.

Read the full Long Term Plan 2021-31 and supporting documents.

There are many challenges and opportunities in front of the Whakatāne District. Whakatāne District Council plays a key role in addressing those challenges and opportunities, and supporting communities to be strong and vibrant. The Long Term Plan 2021-31 is the Council's road map for how we do that.

It will tell you what you can expect from your Council over the next 10 years, what big things Council is planning to support and enhance, what services and facilities Council will deliver, and what this all means for rates.

This page is a summary of the five big things we need to talk about and the questions we want your feedback on. There's a lot of information to consider - we encourage you to read the full consultation document before telling us what you think.

Read the full Long Term Plan 2021-31 - Consultation Document - (PDF, 4.2 MB)

We want to hear from you
Whakapā mai

We're your Mayor and Councillors. We're passionate about the future of the district and want to see all communities flourishing, fulfilling their potential and living life to its fullest. It's our job to make the big decisions for the future of the district. It's important to us that we hear from you before we make final decisions on this plan. Please feel free to get in touch with us about the Long Term Plan.

Our vision and priorities
Tō mātou matakitenga me ngā take matua

Our new vision "more life in life" is for communities to flourish, fulfil their potential, and live life to its fullest.

More life in life

Working together to make living better for our communities, now and in the future

Our proposed new Council vision statement 'More life in life' recognises that the Whakatāne District offers a great quality of life - that our district is a great place to live, work, play, raise a family and do business.

The vision also embraces Council's role in supporting our district and its communities to flourish, fulfil their potential and live life to its fullest. Consultation with the community in 2020 through our campaign 'Arotahi Ki Anamata - Future in Focus' helped define our vision and priorities.

The four outcomes set out the high level goals that the Council works towards to support and enhance the well-being of the people in our district.

Read about our eight priorities for 'more life in life'

The following eight priorities (in no particular order) have been identified as the things we need to focus on most to take action on our 'More life in life' vision.

• Preparing for population growth and housing demand
• Enhancing the environmental outcomes of our activities
• Improving the safety, security and resilience of infrastructure
• Building climate change and natural hazard resilience More life in life Our proposed new Council vision statement 'More life in life' recognises that the Whakatāne District offers a great quality of life - that our district is a great place to live, work, play, raise a family and do business. The vision also embraces Council's role in supporting our district and its communities to flourish, fulfil their potential and live life to its fullest. Consultation with the community in 2020 through our campaign 'Arotahi Ki Anamata - Future in Focus' helped define our vision and priorities. The four outcomes set out the high level goals that the Council works towards to support and enhance the well-being of the people in our district.
• Enhancing the vibrancy of our communities
• Facilitating economic regeneration and employment opportunities
• Strengthening whānau, hapū and iwi partnerships
• Ensuring Council is enabled and fit for the future.

On page 34 of our Consultation Document you can see our key actions and projects to deliver on each priority.

This is how our long term plan is shaping up
Te āhua o tēnei Mahere Pae Tawhiti

For many of our services, it's business as usual

The Council delivers a wide range of activities, services and facilities that people, families and businesses use and rely on every day. We intend to continue to deliver most of these at the current level, adding value and improvements where we can within the existing budgets.

Continuing commitments to key projects

This Long Term Plan proposes to uphold existing commitments to improve specific services and outcomes for our communities. Examples include:

• Developing a wastewater solution for Matatā
• Unlocking economic potential and supporting job creation through the Whakatāne Regeneration Programme
• Upgrading the Whakatāne War Memorial Hall
• Improving stormwater systems

Checking in with you on the big decisions for this Long Term Plan

Through this Long Term Plan, we'll reconfirm key areas of focus and propose a few changes to our work programme and budgets:

• Increasing investment into three waters (water supply, sewerage, stormwater)
• Responding to demand for active transport and road sealing
• Managing waste more sustainably
• Resetting some aspects of the Whakatāne Town Centre and Riverfront Revitalisation Programme (Te Ara Hou)
• Enabling the Council to be fit for the future
• Balancing the costs, rating impacts and debt

Preparing for major future changes

Some aspects of our future are uncertain. We don't have all the answers - but we're working on it. Over the coming 2-3 years we will develop the strategies and plans that chart the way ahead - informing major decisions for our next Long Term Plan 2024-34. Key areas of focus include:

• Planning for how and where we grow in response to population growth and housing demand
• Understanding and reducing our vulnerability to climate change and natural hazard risks
• Building momentum on our Climate Change Strategy by making changes as a Council and supporting communities to make change
• Preparing for impacts of local government reform

 Five big things we need to talk about
Ngā take matua e rima

ONE / TAHI
Improving our water supply, sewerage and stormwater services is a must
Me whakapai ngā puna wai, ngā kōrere parakaingaki me ngā ratonga wai āwhā

Much of the infrastructure for our three waters services (water supply, sewerage and stormwater) was built in the 1950s to 1970s. While there has been ongoing maintenance and some upgrades over the years, many assets are coming to the end of their useful life and will need to be replaced over the coming 30 years.

Read about why improving our water supply, sewerage and stormwater services is a must

The context for three waters is changing. Legislation set by central government continues to require higher health and safety standards are met for water supply. The environmental impacts of sewerage and stormwater systems on the environment also need to meet higher standards. After having a static population for a long time, we now need to think about strong growth into the future. And climate events including drought, flooding and high temperatures are increasingly disrupting our services.

We are signalling the need to spend $1.37 billion on three waters over the coming 30 years.
This is a must do - so how do we meet the costs?

Improvements to our three waters services are much-needed. We're working on it, but there are cost hurdles coming. The improvements will ensure that drinking water is continually safe to use, sources of drinking water are adequately protected, and sewerage and stormwater are managed in environmentally-sustainable ways. Investing into three waters is a must do - the three waters services are critical to our lives and livelihoods.

A challenging time for three waters

Many councils face challenges in three waters. In recent times we've seen the Havelock North water supply contamination (2016), flooding in Queenstown caused by burst water mains (2020), and major ruptured sewerage mains requiring clean-up in Taupō (2019) and Wellington (2021). We have managed to avoid events as major as these, but we do have challenges of our own.

Some of the Whakatāne District's three waters challenges include:

• Need for a sewerage solution for Matatā
• Large cost to renew aging assets
• More occurrences of salt water from the ocean pushing up the Whakatāne River to the water supply intake
• Naturally occurring arsenic in the Braemar water supply
• Low water storage capacity in our systems
• Low water pressure challenges for some areas
• Consents for our sewerage systems due to expire
• Outdated sewerage treatment plant technology that needs significant upgrading
• Some water supply schemes that don't meet all the minimum standards
• Pressure of natural hazards events and climate change impacts
• Increased pressure on services due to population growth

In light of significant investment needed across New Zealand, reform of three waters services has been initiated. The implications could be huge - it's possible that councils may no longer be responsible for these services in the future. We are working with central government towards possible options. Until we know more, we must continue to plan ahead responsibly. We'll keep you in the loop as we learn more.

For more detail on improving our water supply, sewerage and stormwater services see pages 12-15 and for information on 'What it costs and who pays' see page 38 of the Consultation Document.

TWO / RUA
Responding to community demand for active transport and road sealing
Te whakawhānuitanga o ngā āheinga waka me te whakapainga o ngā huarahi

Our communities regularly provide insight to Council about preferences and aspirations for transport. These include:

• Demand for better walking, cycling and active transport networks within and between urban areas
• Concerns about health and safety related to unsealed (metal) roads
• A need to relieve peak congestion into and out of Whakatāne - including at the Landing Road bridge
• Demand for improved connections to, and through, remote parts of our district
• Identification of specific road safety concerns for main arterial routes

Read about responding to community demand for active transport and road sealing

The draft Long Term Plan includes changes to the transport programme to accelerate some of these things, including implementing the Active Whakatāne District-Wide Transport and Recreation Strategy and reintroducing funding for road sealing.

Should we do more to support active and alternative transport options?

We're proposing to make it easier and safer for people to get around without using a car. This would see just over $1 million per year committed towards key projects set out in the Active Whakatāne - District-Wide Transport and Recreation Strategy.

Our plan is for Council to fund one-third, and apply to Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency to fund the remainder.

OPTION 1 - Increased budget for Active Whakatāne (preferred option)

This option is to increase the annual budget towards Active Whakatāne projects by $1 million, starting from next year (2021/22). This means we would spend $11.4 million on Active Whakatāne projects during the next 10 years. Council would fund a third of this (approximately $3.8 million) through debt, and seek the remaining as co-investment funding from Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency. While this proposal meets Waka Kotahi co-investment criteria, it's funding also has limitations and must be prioritised. If we're unsuccessful in securing funding, we would continue with Council's portion of the budget which would impact the pace at which Active Whakatāne projects can be delivered. Repayment of the debt will require small rates increases in each year of the Long Term Plan totalling 1.51 percent over 10 years.

OPTION 2 - Do not increase the budget for Active Whakatāne

This is the lowest cost option and has no implication for rates. This option means we would make much slower progress on community aspirations for walking, cycling and improved accessibility.

You can provide your thoughts on this in question one of our submission form.

Should we fund a sealing programme for metal roads?

We're proposing to progressively seal metal roads every year. This would provide an annual budget of $500,000 - allowing for roughly 2km of seal extensions per year.

If we do this, we'll also review our Seal Extension Policy. This prioritises which roads get sealed first depending on the health, safety, and economic benefits that would be achieved.

OPTION 1 - Provide $500,000 per year towards sealing metal roads (approx 2km of sealing) (preferred option)

This option would introduce an annual budget of $500,000 towards sealing metal roads, starting from next year (2021/22) and would be funded through debt. This roughly equates to 2 km of seal extensions per year, depending on the terrain and technical aspects of the road section being sealed. During the coming 10 years we would need to pay debt servicing costs of $1.45 million. Repayment of the debt will require small rates increases in each year of the Long Term Plan totalling 2.35 percent over 10 years.

OPTION 2 - Provide $1 million per year towards sealing metal roads (approx 4km of sealing)

This option would introduce an annual budget of $1 million towards sealing metal roads, starting from next year (2021/22) and would be funded through debt. This roughly equates to 4km of seal extension per year depending on the terrain and technical aspects of the road section being sealed. Throughout the coming 10 years we would need to pay debt servicing costs of $2.9 million. Repayment of the debt will require small rates increases in each year of the Long Term Plan totalling 4.7 percent over 10 years.

OPTION 3 - Do not introduce a programme of sealing metal roads

This is the lowest cost option and has no implication for rates. This option means there would be no dedicated funding to meet community demand for sealing metal roads.

You can provide your thoughts on this in question two of our submission form.

For more detail on responding to community demand for active transport and road sealing see pages 16-19 of the Consultation Document.

THREE / TORU
Managing waste more sustainably
Te whakahaerenga toitū o te para

Central government is pushing hard for more sustainable methods of dealing with waste, which ties in with climate change goals for Aotearoa/New Zealand and our district. As part of the national-level suite of changes, costs are increasing significantly for sending waste to landfill. For example, the central government Waste Levy charges will increase from $10 to $60 per tonne by 2025 - how we meet these costs is an issue w e need to address.

Read about why managing waste more sustainably

In response to these changes, we’re reviewing our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) alongside the LTP. The WMMP sets out how our district deals with waste, and the associated costs. You can find out more at whakatane.govt.nz/wmmp and tell us what you think before Sunday, 23 May.

Reducing the amount of waste we produce, and managing waste more sustainably, is better for the environment and will help to offset increasing landfill costs.

We are reviewing our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan
We are in the process of reviewing our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan. We need to review this plan every six years.

You can have a look at our Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan online and tell us what you think.

FOUR / WHA
Staying committed to economic regeneration
E ū tonu ana ki te whanake ōhanga

We’re committed to working towards a stronger and more sustainable local economy. We continue to work with whānau, hapū and iwi, central government, our neighbouring Eastern Bay of Plenty Councils and other key stakeholders to support job creation and enhance socio-economic outcomes.

Read more about staying committed to economic regeneration

The impacts of the Whakaari eruption in December 2019 and the ongoing effects of COVID-19 mean we need to focus on supporting the local economy in both the immediate and longer-term future.

We remain committed to our economic regeneration programme - with the disruption of the past two years, we need to readjust the plans.

We're making good progress with our economic recovery and regeneration, but with everything that has happened, we do need to adjust some aspects of this programme through this Long Term Plan. We remain absolutely committed to supporting businesses, growing employment opportunities and strengthening our economy into the future. You can find out more about the Whakatāne Regeneration Programme on our website.

Resetting the Town Centre and Riverfront Revitalisation Programme

We’re currently working through a reset of the Whakatāne Town Centre and Riverfront Revitalisation Programme (Te Ara Hou). The reset is necessary for a few reasons. This includes the impacts COVID-19 and the Whakaari eruption have had on the district’s economic growth and development priorities, the feedback received from the public and the business community during Stage 1 consultation, and the need to collaborate with Bay of Plenty Regional Council through it’s work to improve the town centre’s flood defences. Because this programme of work is co-funded by central government’s Provincial Growth Fund, we will first need to get support for any new approach, otherwise we risk losing the funding. We’ll keep the community in the loop as this evolves.

The key aims of the programme remain constant. These are to deliver on aspirations of re-establishing connections to the Whakatāne River, as well as providing the public infrastructure to make Whakatāne a more vibrant place to live, work, play and invest. While some programme components, such as the Town Wharf Remediation and Riverfront Promenade are expected to continue, others, like the Town Centre Heart, are being reviewed in light of our current environment.

Update on the Whakatāne Boat Harbour Development at Keepa Road

The Whakatāne Boat Harbour Development continues to progress in partnership with Te Rāhui Lands Trust, Ngāti Awa Group Holdings Limited, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and Central Government. Initial physical works have already started in order to prepare the site and all going well, large scale works are expected to commence in late 2021.

FIVE / RIMA
Strengthening and enabling the council
E whakapakari ana i te Kaunihera

The world is changing, and local government needs to evolve with it. Our district and communities face a broader range of challenges and opportunities than ever before. Councils are expected to step up, deliver more, meet higher standards and achieve a wider range of outcomes than in the past.

Read about strengthening and enabling the council

To do this, and to have an impact on the things that matter most for our district and communities, the Council needs to be an organisation that is strong, resilient and enabled. This means investing in the people, technology and processes that can best take us forward.

The role of local government is evolving - councils are being expected to deliver more, meet higher standards and achieve a wider range of outcomes for communities.

What does strengthening and enabling the Council mean?

There are a number of things that we need to do to be fit for the future. We have a focus on continual improvement as an organisation, and we're building capacity and strengthening our systems and processes so we can deliver more of what our communities and central government are asking of us. For most of these things, we're just getting on with it, but we'd like your feedback on options for a significant project to strengthen and upgrade the Civic Centre.

Here are some of the things we are working on:

• Building strong and enduring relationships with whānau, hapū, iwi and other strategic partners
• Continuing to strengthen the way we manage assets and infrastructure
• Streamlining our forward works planning and relationships with contractors
• Replacing Council’s largest and most critical business software that manages budgets, accounting, rates, procurement, supply chain, and many customer processes – because it’s outdated and is due to be discontinued by the software provider.
• Attracting and retaining the right staff in a tight labour market
• Ensuring we meet enhanced workplace health and safety standards
• Ensuring the Civic Centre building is fit-for-purpose

A 'fit for the future' Civic Centre will support better outcomes for our communities – what option do you think we should take?

OPTION 1 - Embracing the role of the Civic Centre as a community hub (preferred option)

✓ Critical upgrades for health, safety and security
✓ Greening of the Civic Centre to embrace our climate change commitments
✓ Upgrades for more flexible and multi-functional use of space
✓ More accessible meeting spaces to make it easier for Council and our communities to interact
✓ Community hub available for public use

The total cost of this option is $11.9 million, including for the building work and costs of transition. It would take 14 months to complete, during which time the building will be out of action with staff working from other locations.

This option would see the Council Chambers and public meeting rooms moved from upstairs, where they are currently located, to the ground floor. This would enhance the interface between Council and the public, would allow new modern meeting spaces to be available for the community to use, and make access and security much easier to manage. This option also includes the modern adaptable work spaces (per option 2), the core health and safety upgrades (per option 1), and the greening of the Civic Centre. The project would be debt funded with repayments over 25 years. This option would result in a rates increase of 1.09 percent in the first year of the Long Term Plan, 0.53 percent in the second year and 0.49 percent in the third year.

OPTION 2 - Enhancing productivity through modern adaptable work spaces

✓ Critical upgrades for health, safety and security
✓ Greening of the Civic Centre to embrace our climate change commitments
✓ Upgrades for more flexible and multi-functional use of space
✕ More accessible meeting spaces to make it easier for Council and our communities to interact
✕ Community hub available for public use

The total cost of this option is $10.2 million, including for the building work and costs of transition. It would take 12 months to complete, during which time the building will be out of action with staff working from other locations.

This option will allow for flexible and multi-functional use of space, embracing the concept of work hubs, providing increased number of meeting rooms and collaborative work spaces. It would also update the building interior and entrance to enhance the 'sense of place' of the Civic Centre. These improvements would help with workplace attraction and retention, and improve productivity. It would also deliver the core health and safety upgrades (per option 1), and the greening of the civic centre. It would not include enhancements for the civic centre to be a community hub.

The project would be debt funded with repayments over 25 years. This option would result in a rates increase of 1.09 percent in the first year of the Long Term Plan, 0.48 percent in the second year and 0.32 percent in the third year.

OPTION 3 - Core improvements for health, safety and resilience

✓ Critical upgrades for health, safety and security
✓ Greening of the Civic Centre to embrace our climate change commitments
✕ Upgrades for more flexible and multi-functional use of space
✕ More accessible meeting spaces to make it easier for Council and our communities to interact
✕ Community hub available for public use

The total cost of this option is $5.52 million, including for the building work and costs of transition. It would take nine months to complete, during which time the building will be out of action with staff working from other locations.

It’s the cheapest option, but doesn’t take the opportunity to make further improvements to the Civic Centre while it’s closed down, and doesn’t deliver on many of the project goals towards making the Civic Centre fit-for-purpose. The project would be debt funded with repayments over 25 years.

This option would result in a rates increase of 1 percent in the first year of the Long Term Plan, 0.11 percent in the second year and 0.13 percent in the third year.

All options include 'greening' of the Civic Centre:

To support our commitment to climate change, a range of different components have been considered to improve the environmental sustainability of the Civic Centre building. All of those with a payback period of less than 25 years will be included. Examples are:

• Hot water heat pumps
• LED lighting
• Solar photovoltaic panels
• Sub-meters and energy monitoring systems
• Solar hot water
• Intelligent lighting controls

For more detail on strengthening and enabling the Council see pages 24-27 of the Consultation Document.

You can provide your thoughts on this in question three of our submission form.

Other policies and plans for consultation
Ētahi atu Kaupapa Here me ētahi atu Mahere

We're proposing small changes to a number of financial policies that support the Long Term Plan. 

We're also proposing some major changes to our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan. The draft budgets in our Long Term Plan are based on these draft policies and plans. If major changes are made to these policies and plans compared to what we’ve proposed, it might impact the Long Term Plan budgets. 

These policies and plans are out for consultation alongside the Long Term Plan:

Find out more about the Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan »

Find out more about the financial policies that support the Long Term Plan »

 Kōrero mai / Let's talk

Thank you for your interest, consultation closed Sunday, 23 May 2021. 

 Community conversations

During consultation, we'll be out and about in our communities, so you can have a chat with elected members and staff about everything Long Term Plan-related.

Our calendar of community conversation events is advertised here and on our Facebook Page or you can phone us on 07 306 0500.

Formal hearings

We have set aside Tuesday, 25 May as a day for formal hearings. If you would like to formally present your submission to Council you will need to register with us on or before Friday, 21 May so that we can organise a time for you.

Do this by emailing info@whakatane.govt.nz or calling 07 306 0500.