Feedback from public workshop to be considered next week

Buller District Council’s draft Annual Plan process is nearing completion following a public workshop this week.

The 2023-2024 Draft Annual Plan sets out what council intends to do in the year to come and how it intends to pay for these activities.

In total, council received 10 items of feedback on the 2023-2024 Draft Annual Plan. These were mostly received via Survey Monkey and a dedicated email address. No written feedback was received. Councillors discussed a summary of the feedback at the public workshop on Wednesday the 7 June.

Mayor Jamie Cleine says: “At the workshop with councillors on Wednesday 7 June 2023, we reviewed the feedback from Federated Farmers, the Kawatiri Coastal Trail, Inangahua Community Board (ICB) and 2 staff submissions relating to the Westport water supply and an external funding application.

“We will consider the ICB submission on the Reefton Pool at next week’s extraordinary meeting and councillors have sought more information on the Westport water supply staff proposal.”

“In relation to Westport water, staff requested an additional capital budget of $3M for the extension of the Westport Trunk Main ($2.35M), $0.38M for the installation of bulk flow meters and $0.27M for treatment plant optimisation and investigation.

This has come in late as an application for external funding was declined, after the draft plan had been released. Given that staff feel this is critical work, it will be considered by council next week.

This does represent unplanned spending, but we will work through the best options to deliver this vital work,” says Mayor Jamie Cleine.

“We have taken a slightly different approach this year, by not carrying out a formal consultation on the draft Annual Plan. This is because it doesn’t vary significantly from what was signalled in the previous Long Term Plan.

“We have tried to publicise as widely as possible, using print, radio, livestreamed online event and social media advertisements, where people could go to find out more on what’s on our agenda for 2023-2024.”

“We recognise that we received less public feedback than is typical for an Annual Plan engagement process. It was a new approach compared with a more traditional consultation process as we were not seeking submissions. It’s important to note that the 2024-2034 Long Term Plan process is just around the corner where we will closely engage and consult with the community.”

“One change this year, was that we weren’t taking applications for community funding. This often accounts for many of the submissions. We wrote to 18 individuals and groups who already had funding approved for this financial year in the existing Long Term Plan to let them know their funding would continue as planned.”

Council is scheduled to adopt the Annual Plan at its meeting on Wednesday 28 June. It will come into effect on 1 July 2023.

-ENDS-

further information please contact:
Mayor Jamie Cleine
Jamie.Cleine@bdc.govt.nz