Environment Southland adopts 2024-2034 Long-term Plan

Environment Southland councillors today adopted the 2024-2034 Long-term Plan – Investing in Southland Whakangao Ki Murihiku.

Environment Southland Chairman Nicol Horrell said the plan addresses the current and future challenges we face as a community – with a strong focus on resilience and responding to our changing climate.

“We want to position Southland as well as we can to weather, and recover quickly from, the inevitable floods that will come our way.

“Planning and delivering long-term flood resilience was a core part of the regional council’s work to help keep communities as safe as possible ahead of time, but how to pay for that was the question,” Chairman Horrell said.

Environment Southland’s Long-term Plan outlines the council’s budgets and work programmes for the next ten years, with an emphasis on the first three years.

It had been developed in consultation with the community, at a time when many people are grappling with cost-of-living stresses arising through high inflation, and higher interest rates.

“As a community, you have sent us strong messages around affordability of our proposed plans and the level of future potential debt.”

In the plan, Councillors have agreed to reduce forecast rates rises and to transition towards a new rating model over the next two years in response to feedback.

Council’s key consultation proposal was focused on significant investment in flood protection to improve community resilience. As a result of the 330 submissions, Council has reduced its proposed $2.3m investment in flood protection to $1.17m in 2024-2025 by using reserves rather than rates, as well as changing the timing of some of the work.

The average annual total rates increase has decreased from the initial proposed 23% to 12.6%. This means for a $450,000 property the impact would be an increase of $34 per annum, or 67c a week.

There was community support for ongoing flood protection in the region, but there were also suggestions around how much and how fast work should happen, and affordability issues were front of mind during deliberations, he said.

“All of our responsibilities require long-term, future-focused thinking and planning. As councillors, we have not gone into this Long-term Plan lightly.

“We understand the ongoing challenges our communities are facing and have responded to the community’s voice. We hope most will agree that we have taken time to listen and carefully consider community feedback to make sound decisions,” Chairman Horrell said.

Key decisions made by Council include:

• The funding of the flood protection operating expenditure with $2.34m of lease area reserves to reduce the impact on rates over four years, as consulted on with Catchment Liaison Committees.
• There will be a two-year transition to a Capital Value rating system and there will be further consultation during 2024-2025 on whether there is a local rate or regional rate to fund river management programmes.
• The use of $1.38m over four years from biosecurity and land sustainability surpluses to fund their ongoing work programmes and offset rates.
• The flood protection capital works programme from 2027-2028 onwards is indicative, and will only progress subject to detailed planning being undertaken, government funding being available, and further consultation with the community.

In late March, the council started six weeks of community consultation, receiving a record 330 submissions. Three hearing days were held in May, and three deliberations meetings in June.