Council launches Draft Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 consultation
Buller District Council is asking the community for feedback on its Draft Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 (LTP) between Friday, 25 April 2025, and 4:30 pm Monday, 26 May 2025.
The Long-Term Plan (LTP) is council's roadmap for the next nine years (2025-2034). It sets out council's priorities, the services and projects it will deliver, and how it will fund them. This plan affects everyone who lives in the Buller District, shaping the future of the community and the services everyone relies on.
Chief Executive Officer Simon Pickford emphasises council’s commitment to prudent financial planning. He states: “Developing a no-frills budget that enables council to deliver the same level of existing services was the primary focus when developing the financial framework for the next nine years.
Council has carefully considered several key issues. Balancing the affordability and appropriateness of services, addressing the uncertainty of legislative changes, reacting to the sharp increases in the costs of delivering services, and maintaining and improving council assets and infrastructure to comply with legal requirements have been key considerations when putting our roadmap together for the next nine years.”
Council’s consultation document identifies a number of important decisions and key projects that will either impact rates, or how council delivers a particular service to the Buller community.
“A key issue we want to get feedback on is how to find the separation of Westport’s wastewater and stormwater. In the consultation document, we present two options to the community to finance this essential work, renewing our wastewater consent for Westport and Carters Beach.”
Council is currently in the process of renewing its resource consent with the West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) for Westport’s combined wastewater and stormwater overflows into the Buller River. Under the Resource Management Act, council must have a resource consent to discharge treated wastewater into any river or other water body.
The Draft Long-Term Plan proposes an average general rate increase of 5.5% in 2025/2026. General rates are proposed to increase on average 5.6% over the nine years of the plan, with specific increases tied to the funding of key projects and services.
Targeted rates for recycling collection, wastewater and drinking water are predicted to increase in varying degrees.
Council plans to deliver a works programme of $86.11 million in roading, $8.11 million in stormwater, $21.79 million in wastewater and $32.41 million in drinking water over the next nine years.
The works programme is where council renews or replaces ageing infrastructure, i.e. roads and pipes to ensure that we can continue to deliver the services required by the community.
Council has also begun to explore options for managing the district’s drinking water, stormwater and wastewater in the future, as required under the Local Water Done Well legislation.
Mr Pickford says: “We anticipate that we will ask the community for feedback on the different options for delivering our water services in May this year.”
Debt is expected to reach a maximum of $60 million in 2027/28.
The Consultation Document, the Draft Long-Term Plan 2025-2034, submission forms and further information are available online via Let’s Talk Buller or at council’s offices and libraries, the Karamea Information Centre, and the Northern Buller Community Resource Centre during the consultation period.
People who want to speak in support of their submission can address council during the hearings on 9 and 10 June 2025.
All feedback received will be considered by councillors during deliberations on 11 and 12 June 2025, before the final Long-Term Plan is adopted on 30 June 2025.
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
Community Engagement Team
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz
Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at the time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact the accuracy of the information.