Plan submissions considered

Deliberations begin this week as the Bay of Plenty Regional Council look at the 275 submissions and recommendations to the their Long Term Plan.

Councillors held four days of hearings throughout the region during April where submitters were given the opportunity to present their opinions.


Water quality is one of the five key outcomes involved in the LTP. Photo: File.

Council Chairman Doug Leeder says the two days of deliberations would give councillors an opportunity to consider and discuss feedback from residents about what was important to them.

As a result, important decisions could be made about funding and council activities over the next 10 years.

'The funding for our work will continue to come from a mix of investment income, cost recovery, general rates, targeted rates and Central Government grants,” says Doug.

'Only about 20 per cent of our work is funded through general rates.”

The council's Long Term Plan consultation document Thriving Together, which went out for consultation in late February, summarised key challenges for the Bay of Plenty and how they would be tackled.

It proposed a total expenditure in 2015/16 of $107 million, rising to $126 million in 2024/25.

'We have agreed on five key community outcomes that we want for our region – water quality and quantity, environmental protection, resilience and safety, regional collaboration and leadership and economic development,” adds Doug.

'We have identified important choices for our communities, and have now listened to what people have to say.”

He says council needed to consider changes to the work local government did, increasing costs of new infrastructure for areas losing population and changes to public transport demands.

The council planned to focus its investment on healthy soil and waterways and resilient communities.

The final Long Term Plan will be adopted by June 30.

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1 comment

Reports and studies

Posted on 20-05-2015 10:21 | By Annalist

Plenty of talk, conversations, studies, fact finding tours and no doubt conferences ???


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