Annual Plan Consultation to begin 15 May
Council is to ask the community if it agrees to a smaller rate increase than previously flagged and for a fund to be targeted at community support for a post-COVID-19 restart.
The proposal was debated at the first live-streamed Council meeting on Thursday (30 April) and forms the backbone of the 2020-21 Draft Annual Plan, which goes out for 3 weeks of public consultation, starting 15 May.
The Elected Council considered four different scenarios and looked at the sacrifices and benefits of each option over the short, medium and long term. The options included whether it was better to make no rates increase, which would see future ratepayers facing larger rates increases, or continue with the 4.2% rates increase that had been proposed for year three of our 2018-28 Long Term Plan.
Council decided to seek feedback on a reduced rate increase of 2.2% which will enable Council to continue providing and maintaining the services and assets we use daily.
Mayor Sheryl Mai says we need to factor in how different the global landscape was when the Long Term Plan was established after consultation in 2018, and how everything changed on 25 March.
“When we first prepared our budget and work programme for 2020-2021 the plan was to increase our revenue to continue building the assets our rapidly growing District needs, like roads, water and wastewater systems, and parks and reserves.
“COVID-19 changed that - we see the pain our community is experiencing. People need immediate help, but also assurance that life will go on, and improve after this crisis."
Council is committed to continuing capital works projects to help stimulate local businesses and create jobs as well as seeking potential government funding for projects that are ‘shovel ready’.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.8% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
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