A word from the Mayor
What a remarkable weekend to honour ANZAC DAY in our district.
Autumn has really produced over the past week; we have been blessed with some wonderful weather to enable those enjoying time with their children over the school holidays to get outside and appreciate the colour palate that the season brings us each year.
Each ANZAC DAY our communities host their own service of remembrance. We all take time to remember New Zealanders particularly those who lived and worked here in the Hurunui who without guarantee of safe return left their home and families for shores unknown. It is incumbent on us all to remember the lessons of the past and to not waste the opportunities that those who served brought us. It is important that we remember and make decisions that preserve the world they would have wanted. It is a day for looking after your mates, cherishing your home, your neighbourhood and family and realising how rare and precious this wonderful country of ours is.
I was invited to speak at the Dawn Service in Amberley, the special unveiling of the wonderful new monument on Rutherford Reserve in Culverden, and then onto Hanmer Springs for the re-opening of the Soldiers Block. Across the district there was strong attendance, and I am sincerely grateful to all the organisers for their preparation. Thankyou.
This week we begin the process and will hear submitters on the Local Water Done Well policy direction, with the deliberation at an extraordinary meeting to be held on 13 May. This piece of government legislation will define how we deliver water services to the district now and into the future.
From a council perspective, we are now in the Annual Plan (AP) process which is embedded in the Long-Term Plan (LTP). This year we are required to consult with you as the AP as proposed is significantly less than the LTP which indicated a 14.49% rate increase, we now propose a 3.31% rate increase. This is the result of not receiving our proposed amount from Waka Kotahi for roading for this incoming year. A significant change in our AP triggers a consultation process for council to receive your feedback.
In the meantime, look after yourselves and enjoy the remainder of Autumn colours as we prepare for the winter season ahead.
