Porirua City Council agreed last night to keep to its current plan and budget for 2019/20 with no new spending.
“This will mean no traditional consultation on budget items. Instead the Council will manage budget pressures within its agreed parameters,” says Mike Tana, Mayor of Porirua.
Every three years the Council is required to produce a long-term plan (LTP), and develop annual plans in the non-LTP years. This year the Council adopted the LTP in June and we are now halfway through year 1 (2018/19) of the LTP.
Mayor Tana says an annual plan will still be produced to highlight the works the Council will be carrying out next year.
“Those works will be completed within the 4.98% average rate increase as agreed in the LTP so any minor changes to costs and revenue will be managed within that funding envelope.”
In 2014 amendments were made to the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) to help reduce time and cost by removing unnecessary duplication in consultation processes and preparation of information.
“This not only saves the city money, but more importantly it lets our community focus on other important matters that we want to kōrero with them about,” Mayor Tana says.
Porirua City is currently consulting on a Growth Strategy for the city as well as the District Plan which will be formally notified in 2019.
“These are critical pieces of work that will determine how Porirua grows into the future so we want to make sure our residents and stakeholders can put their energy into these and not be troubled by unnecessary consultation exercises.
“It’s also becoming clear from our work on the Growth Strategy that we’re likely to need some adjustments to our current projections that will require us to amend the LTP in year 3 (2020/21). The resources and time saved by bypassing formal consultation for year 2 (2019/20) can be reallocated into planning for this.”
Since the changes to the Act were made, more than 20 councils have chosen not to formally consult on an annual plan. This year, councils in the Wellington region who are also taking this approach include Hutt City and Wellington City Councils.
The Annual Plan 2019/20 will be developed and adopted by the Council before 30 June 2019. Council will make it publicly available and communicate any minor changes from the LTP that may arise.
12 Dec 2018
