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Deliberations complete for Long-Term Plan

Councillors have completed their deliberations for Whanganui District Council’s long-term plan, with community feedback influencing a number of updates to the plan.

This long-term plan period has been a difficult one for councils around the country. The rising costs of inflation, insurance and interest are putting pressure on council services to deliver the same or more services with less money. We’ve worked to manage that, alongside the knowledge that our community is facing increasing costs as well, and rates rises need to be as affordable as possible.

Alongside the service cuts discussed below, the council has made an efficiency saving of $1 million through the following:

Reducing the vehicle fleet size.
Deferring ICT and various other projects.
A vacancy management programme with a six percent savings target from total salary budgets.
A two-year pay freeze for the chief executive.

The changes made by councillors at deliberations mean that the average rates increase for 2024/25 will now be 11.2 percent, rather than the 10.6 percent originally proposed. This is provisional until the final adoption of the plan.

LTP Rates Increase Graphic

Changes made following the community’s feedback

Below is a quick summary of the changes made following the community’s feedback. This focuses on the key consultation topics and does not include every decision made. It includes what the council's original recommendation was – and the final decision made by councillors after reviewing and considering the submissions.

You can read through the feedback in more detail here(PDF, 3MB).

Service cuts

To minimise the rates increase we needed to lower our operational costs through reducing or cutting services – this involved some tough decisions as follows:

Service being reviewed	The council’s original preferred option	Final decision after community consultation	Increase to year 1 rates above the 10.6% consulted on
Davis Library	Close the Davis Library for one day during the week, ie: a Monday	The Davis Library will close at 5.00pm each weekday (one hour earlier) and at 3.00pm on Saturdays (two hours earlier) from 1 July 2024	+$10,000
Whanganui East Pool	Close the Whanganui East Pool and complete a feasibility study for outdoor swimming in Whanganui	The Whanganui East Pool will remain open for the next summer season. Pool standards will be maintained using a maintenance and operational budget provision of $300,000. $2 million of capital funding has been provisioned in the long-term plan while the council explores a long-term plan for outdoor swimming in Whanganui.	+$340,000 (+0.4% on rates)
Repertory Theatre	Close the theatre for demolition	The Repertory Theatre will be put up for sale, with the existing tenants offered the right to buy it first for $1.00. If a buyer can’t be found within a year, the council will proceed with the consent process for demotion	+$7,000 for year
Aviary at Rotokawau Virginia Lake	Close the aviary	The bird aviary at Rotokawau Virginia Lake will be closed and decommissioned and the birds rehomed, mostly due to ongoing animal welfare concerns. The focus will be on rehoming birds and there will be no action until a rehoming plan is in place	No change to what was consulted on
Mainstreet Hanging flower baskets	Remove the hanging flower baskets	The Mainstreet hanging baskets will stay as a summer-only display at a cost of no more than $47,000 (plus GST). Their funding will be changed to 25% from the General Rate and 75% from a CBD Targeted Rate (previously a 50/50 split)	+$47,000
New Zealand Glassworks	Keep New Zealand Glassworks, but seek a buyer	The council will retain ownership ofNew Zealand Glassworks, and look for opportunities to increase revenue and be more cost efficient. If an offer is presented to buy New Zealand Glassworks, it will be considered	This is a change from our preferred option but there is no change to rates in year 1.
Gonville Library	Keep Gonville Library days and hours as they are	Gonville Library days and hours will remain unchanged	No change to what was consulted on
Drop off points for rural rubbish	Keep the drop-off points for rural rubbish	Rural rubbish drop-off points will continue as they are and the funding of this service will be reviewed ahead of the Annual Plan 2025/26	No change to what was consulted on
Winter Gardens	Do not close the Winter Gardens	The Winter Gardens attraction will remain open	No change to what was consulted on
Level of community grant funding	Increase community grant funding by $100,000	Contestable community grant funding will be increased by $100,000 per annum from 2024/25. The council will also undertake a review to set the criteria for all contestable community grant funding starting in the 2024/25 financial year	No change to what was consulted on

Future investments

As the council looks to the future, the plan also sets the direction for long-term investments that will make Whanganui a more liveable and attractive place for residents and visitors. Many of these projects will have no impact on the year 1 rates.

Service being reviewed	The council’s preferred option	Final decision after community consultation	Changes made following consultation
Funding of core infrastructure – roading, footpaths, drinking water, stormwater and wastewater	Increase funding for our core infrastructure to get us to a reasonable state in the future	Funding for our roading, footpaths, drinking water, wastewater and stormwater will be increased to keep up with rising costs and for the additional projects identified	Increased investment in three waters over the 10-year plan period
Hotel and carpark	Whanganui District Council takes the lead with the development of a hotel and carpark, subject to the outcome of a detailed business case	The council will not invest in developing a hotel and car park, but will include $200,000 in the 2024/25 budget to progress a scaled back feasibility study to attract potential developers	Save $55 million between 2025-2029 and remove associated future income streams $200,000 has been retained for the feasibility study in 2024/25 (loan funded over five years)
Royal Whanganui Opera House	Build a new stage house and implement a new fly system (2025-2027)	Subject to a satisfactory business case and confirmed external funding, a new stage house will be built and a fly system implemented at the Royal Whanganui Opera House	No change to what was proposed
Marae development	Provide grant funding of $3.5 million over 7 years (2028 to 2034) for Marae upgrades	Grant funding will be provided for Marae upgrades from 2027/28 at a cost of $500,000 per year. Funding criteria for the allocation of the Marae upgrade grant funding will be established prior to 2027.	No change to what was proposed.
Wanganui Surf Lifeguard Service (WSLS)	Funding of $1 million to WSLS as contribution to this project in 2027/28. WSLS will seek the remainder from other sources	Funding of $1 million will be provided to the Wanganui Surf Lifesaving Service in 2025/26 as a contribution towards their project to build a new operations centre and tower facility, and upgrade of community facilities, subject to the remainder of the funding for the project being secured	No change to what was proposed, but funding brought forward to 2025/26
Pākaitore Reserve paving and crossing	Construct a new raised pavement crossing between Pākaitore and the Awa (2028-2030)	The proposed Pākaitore Reserve crossing project will not proceed and the council will engage further with stakeholders to investigate alternative ways to connect the Awa to Pākaitore	Save $830,000 between 2028-2030
Rapanui Road Trail	Provide full funding for this project at $2.4 million (2031-2034), provided that a feasibility study is conducted	The Rapanui Road trail will not go ahead at this time, but $500,000 of provisional capital funding is allocated in the year 2032, to enable community stakeholders to commence fundraising for the Rapanui Road Trail. The design and construction of this project will not commence unless the project has achieved full funding	Save $1.9 million between 2031-2034

Youth Council

Youth initiatives will now have a budget of $40,000 approved from 1 July 2024, alongside the creation of a working party to make recommendations on the appropriate structure for a youth council or advisory group going forward.

Asset Sales

The potential $16 million of asset sales has been removed from the budget to allow further research and community engagement. Removing asset sales from the plan does not preclude the sale of assets, but means we are not relying on selling assets to achieve the rates increases forecast in the plan. We were able to identify an additional $450,000 per annum of investment income from the council’s investment properties, partly though the recent purchase of properties in the CBD that could help to offset rates increases instead.

Other significant LTP investments

There are multiple projects in the pipeline over the next 10 years – below are just a few that may be of particular interest.

Dublin Street Bridge - we’ve started a business case for replacement of the Dublin Street Bridge around 2028/29 at an estimated cost of $69 million. We’ll seek NZTA Waka Kotahi funding of 62 percent. If we are not able to receive the forecasted funding then we will need to reassess the project.
Splash Centre - $1.6 million is budgeted to enhance the Splash Centre, including gym refurbishment and pool retiling.
Cooks Gardens - $1.4 million will be spent at Cooks Gardens to replace the running track, improve field drainage and replace the lighting towers.
North Mole - We’ve put $1.6 million of council funding aside for the rejuvenation of the North Mole area, including a new carpark, coastal foredune and amenities. This will add to the almost $900,000 of external funding from central government that has been secured for the project.
Playgrounds - $4.1 million will be spent on playground replacements.
Housing - $15.6 million will be invested to maintain our buildings and housing portfolio.

You can read more about some of these investments in our consultation document(PDF, 12MB) from pages 48-51.

Other investments or budget changes:

Tram Tracks – a tram tracks project will not proceed at this time and the associated cost of $3.3 million has been removed from the budget.
Accessible Bathrooms - council officers will bring back an options paper on the potential locations and costs for a fully accessible bathroom. The council will consider this in the future for funding.
Bus Shelters – the budget for bus shelter maintenance will be increased by $15,000 per annum from 2024/2025.
Town Centre Regeneration and Riverfront Development Plan – a capital budget of $100,000 per annum from 2028/29 has been added to fund initiatives that align to the Town Centre Regeneration Strategy 2016 and Riverfront Development Plan 2011.