Views sought on three years ahead

Published: 22 March 2024

Last Updated: 24 April 2024

Napier City Council is seeking the views of Napier residents on its draft Three-Year Plan with consultation opening on Monday 25 March.

The draft plan signals an average rates increase of 23.7% for 2024/25 with a portion specifically for work that improves Napier’s resilience.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says it’s challenging having to put a significant proposed increase in front of the community.

“This is the time to get the building blocks in place to firm up our foundations and focus on what we can do now to benefit future generations,” says Mayor Wise. “This includes making full use of the resources we have including changes to how we manage investment assets and our visitor-focused facilities.

“Getting the basics right is the focus of this draft plan. We haven’t included any new projects except those that will improve our resilience,” Mayor Wise explains. “Recovery still requires significant resourcing, but at the same time, we need to stay focused on the core services our community wants and needs from us. Essential to all of this is maintaining and investing in our infrastructure and that is costly, with material and labour costs rising.

“We can’t shy away from these challenges, including increasing costs. If we don’t face them now, we will be creating an untenable situation for future generations.”

Council’s draft Three-Year Plan sets out what the Council is going to deliver, how it will go about it and how much it is likely to cost. The community is then asked to share their opinions on whether Council has the balance and priorities right.

There are six areas Council wants the public’s views on. These are council-owned housing, maintaining a rate to improve resilience, how council investments are managed, increases to fees and charges, the funding of certain tourism facilities and the future of council office accommodation.

“The most important part of this plan is getting our community’s voice heard. Public views will make this draft a solid road map for the three years ahead of us,” says Mayor Wise.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, central government gave the Council dispensation to prepare a Three-Year Plan focused on recovery, rather than the usual Long Term Plan.

Public engagement on the draft Three-Year Plan runs from Monday 25 March to Friday 26 April. Submissions can be made through sayitnapier.nz, at Taradale and Napier Libraries, or at the Customer Service Centre on Hastings Street, Napier.

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