The Whakatāne District Council’s audited 2013/14 Annual Report has now been adopted and will be available for online inspection before the end of next week. A summary document will also be prepared and distributed to households throughout the District towards the end of October.

The report for the 12 months ending 30 June 2014 provides details of the Council’s financial and non-financial performance outcomes. “This is essentially a score-card setting out how well we performed against our financial budgets and the levels of service targets for the year,” explains Mayor Tony Bonne. “I’m delighted to say that in the past year, we have continued the momentum of financial management success achieved in the past two financial years and also achieved most of our service delivery and capital project objectives.”

He says continued financial management discipline saw the Council achieve a rating surplus for the third year running. “Our rating surplus of $622,000 represents about one percent of our operating budget for the year, which indicates that the organisation is forecasting and managing its budgets with a high degree of accuracy. Given the unexpected costs we faced as a result of the work undertaken to avoid drought-related water supply issues, and the impacts of the Easter Weekend storm, this was a particularly positive result.”

Good progress was made on capital works, with the major projects completed including:

• The Whakatāne to Ōhope Walkway and Cycleway
• Upgrades to the Matatā and Rūātoki water supplies
• Edgecumbe wastewater system improvements
• Stormwater upgrading work in Whakatāne and Ōhope

The Council also achieved more than 80 percent of its levels of service targets, which define the desired quality parameters for the very diverse range of services delivered. “This covers a huge range of activities – everything from roads and footpaths to water supplies, sewage treatment and disposal, solid waste services, arts and cultural activities, recreation and community facilities, pensioner housing and so on,” Mayor Bonne says. “Our service delivery has been very much in line with the strategic direction and priorities set out in our Long Term Plan, and it was particularly pleasing to see good progress made in growing our economic development capabilities and activities.

“We are also particularly proud of our people-focused achievements, both internally as we work towards a high performance-oriented workplace, and externally through our partnerships with the community and stakeholders. Council elected members and staff are determined to continue building on our successes, and we look forward to another year of outstanding performance.”