Community views wanted on ABC of NCC

Published: 4 April 2022

Last Updated: 6 April 2022

Napier residents are being asked to share their views on everything from the Annual Plan, to bylaws to council housing and coastal hazards.

A plethora of consultation is taking place through April and May. Consultation opportunities are all posted on the sayit.napier website, with hard-copies available at Napier Libraries and the Customer Services Centre.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says getting feedback from residents and ratepayers is an essential part of local government.

“The work we do - from governance to operations - is for the people of Napier, so at every step of the way we want to hear your views, we want to learn what is most important to you, and we want your opinions on our plans and projects,” says Mayor Wise.

The public will soon be asked to give their general views on changes proposed to the Annual Plan. In particular, people will be asked what they think of Napier City Council transferring assets associated with managing the response to coastal hazards to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. This would mean revetments, which are retaining walls to protect the coast from erosion, as well as the budgets for coastal planting would come under the care of HBRC through a Memorandum of Transition, which has been agreed, in principle, by partner councils and is part of the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy.

The Annual Plan consultation also flags the 9.8% rates increase for the coming year. Mayor Kirsten Wise says this is below the cap set in the Long Term Plan, and councillors and officers have worked hard to keep it that way.

“We are well aware of the pressures people have been under financially over the last few years; we have an ambitious work plan, with constraints from all sides including the rising cost of materials and a tight labour market; we do have to keep going though, to meet the needs of our community,” says Wise. “We have gone through the whole organisation looking for efficiencies, and we’ve kept the increase as low as possible by tightening our belts rather that cutting any levels of service.”

The future of council housing is currently being consulted on, with three options being proposed and opportunity to share views on these.

A merger of the Tradewaste and the Wastewater bylaws into one comprehensive bylaw is also open for consultation. This is a vital piece of work in Napier Council’s role to ensure improvements in the quality of water entering Te Whanganui-a-Orotū (Ahuriri Estuary). The water supply bylaw also opens for consultation in May.

• Annual Plan, including Coastal Hazards, consultation runs from 7 April to 13 May.

• Bylaws consultation closes on 25 May.

• Council Housing consultation closes on 20 April.

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