Regional Council Chairman Mark Farnsworth says decisions made today will help cut about $54 from the average rates bill originally proposed under the Council’s Draft Annual Plan 2005/06.
Mr Farnsworth says Councillors recognise that although there is considerable public support for the $30 million-plus events centre, it’s also clear that many ratepayers remain uncomfortable at the impact it would have had on rates bills.
The events centre proposal dominated many of a record 5000-plus submissions to the Council’s Draft Annual Plan for 2005/06, which was finalised in Whangarei today (Weds 22 June) after four days of public hearings in recent weeks.
“Had the events centre been funded, the average rates bill would have been $137. Today’s decision, along with some other adjustments, mean the average rates bill will now be about $83 – a fall of $54 from what was initially proposed,” Mr Farnsworth says.
Mr Farnsworth says the revised figures mean the average ratepayer will now pay just 23 cents a week – or $12 a year - more in Regional Council rates this year.
However, despite deciding not to fund the centre via rates this year, Regional Councillors have agreed to continue investigations into the “use, location, funding and ownership management structure of a regional multi-events centre”.
Mr Farnsworth says $120,000 has been set aside for that work over the next 12 months and the Council intends to incorporate an amended proposal on the stadium into its proposed Long Term Council Community Plan for 2006-16.
“A key component of this work will involve working with the Whangarei District Council and other interested parties to try to identify possible sources of funding that would not require such a significant ratepayer input.”
Mr Farnsworth says the Regional Council now plans to collect about $6.16 million in rates from the owners of about 74,000 Northland properties in the 2005/06 financial year – up from almost $5.1 million in the current financial year.
The extra money will help pay for a variety of work including a much-needed and significant upgrade of the Awanui River Flood Management Scheme and other land management, environmental and planning projects.
Meanwhile, he says public submissions have also prompted major changes to the way the Awanui River Flood Management Scheme will be funded.
These include:
- Reducing the overall cost of the scheme from $1.6 million to $900,000
- Spreading the project over six years, instead of the 1-2 years initially proposed
- Funding the scheme directly from rates rather than a loan
- Reclassifying some of the rural land affected by the scheme and reducing the amount landowners must pay
- Cutting the maximum rural rate under the scheme by roughly a third.
Mr Farnsworth says Councillors are grateful to the many thousands of Northlanders who took the time to have their say on Council’s Draft Annual Plan.
“Occasionally, some sectors of the public question whether their elected representatives truly take on board submissions made to them during consultative processes.”
“I think the decisions made today on the events centre, Awanui flood scheme and other initiatives prove - once again - that Councillors do indeed listen to the public.”