Plan to keep Kaikōura ‘moving forward’

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

Community input into Kaikōura’s long-term plan (LTP) has been hailed by councillor Vicki Gulleford, who said residents accepted rates needed to rise.

The Kaikōura District Council adopted its 2024-34 LTP on Wednesday, June 26, confirming an average rates rise of 14.75%.

Gulleford, who sat in the mayor’s chair for the meeting, said she was impressed with the community engagement.

‘‘Even though it is a reasonably high rates rise, it has been respected that it is what we need to do.

‘‘People said ‘yes, lets keep moving forward’.’’

The council received 124 submissions, with 86% backing the council's plan to increase spending on footpaths.

There was overwhelming support (97%) for the council giving financial assistance to the Whale Trail cycleway from Picton to Kaikōura.

The community came up with ideas for investing in the town centre, West End, with councillors adding it into the LTP for future years.

‘‘It is really cool to get that feedback,’’ Gulleford said.

‘‘That is the conundrum, if we want to see things improve, we need to spend money, so you need to find the money and that means rates.’’

Gulleford praised the efforts of staff in putting the plan together, but she stressed the work has just begun.

‘‘It is now time to knuckle down and do the work.’’

Her thoughts were echoed by chief executive Will Doughty.

‘‘Most councils have a dedicated team to work on the long-term plan, but we only have a small team, so we have to do the day-to-day work of council as well.

‘‘There is not much respite, as now we need to continue on and deliver it.’’

Doughty said he understood the Hurunui District Council’s dilemma in deferring adopting its LTP by three weeks, as it made adjustments after not receiving the funding it wanted for roading.

‘‘It is an age old issue, we all need to be able to make assumptions around what we think is going to be funded in the National Land Transport Plan.

‘‘We won’t know the final numbers until August, so it would make more sense if the processes were aligned.’’

He said Kaikōura was in a fortunate position as most of the major bridges in the district were replaced or repaired after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016.

The council has also invested heavily in recent years to improve the standard of its roads, but it does not have a roading network as large as Hurunui.

‘‘We need to keep having discussions around the funding model and look at options other than rates and debt,’’ Doughty said.

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.