From the Mayor's office

10 March 2010

In just two days, the Council will release to the public its budget for the coming year.

I would like to encourage Christchurch residents, business groups and organisations to take a look at our Draft Annual Plan 2010/11 and let us know what they think through the public consultation process.

After two days of meetings at the end of February, we approved a plan for public consultation which proposes a rates increase of 3.96%, while still delivering key city projects. The draft plan was adopted unanimously by Councillors and will be released for public feedback this Friday, 12 March.

I enjoyed the process of putting this draft plan together, planning for key projects and debating with the Council the best use for our rates dollar. In essence, the plan is a fine-tuning of the budget set out in the Long Term Council Community Plan 2009-19 that was adopted last year, with some adjustments to accommodate changing circumstances over the past 12 months.

External funding changes have resulted in some reshuffling of funding, however key city projects will continue. We are proposing to bring forward works on our Major Sewer Upgrade which will help improve water quality in the city by reducing overflows into the Avon River during wet weather. The Council has identified potential savings of $14 million on this project by combining construction contracts and bringing the work forward.

The draft plan also responds to the issue of compensation of weathertight homes claims, proposing a significant increase in the funding set aside to deal with these claims from $170,000 to $1 million a year. This figure is based on the number of claims lodged and the average cost of resolving each claim. It is important that this Council works through the compensation process and addresses the problems faced by Christchurch owners of leaky homes.

The other major changes proposed to the budget set out in the LTCCP are savings as a result of lower interest rates than projected and a shift in New Zealand Transport Agency funding priorities.

I was particularly pleased we were able to include funding of $2 million to contribute to the redevelopment of the City Mission’s Hereford Street facility, including the expansion of the night shelter. Projects such as this, which aim to help and protect the city’s most vulnerable, are immensely important and the Council has recognised this in our budgets.

The public will have five weeks to consider our Draft Annual Plan and make submissions. Your feedback is invaluable to this process and I urge Christchurch residents to have their say on the future of their city.

Regards

Bob Parker
MAYOR