Christchurch City Council has presented the first draft of its Long Term Plan 2027–2037 (LTP) to the city’s Mayor and Councillors.
The LTP sets outs the services, projects and capital programme the Council plans to undertake across the next 10 years and how it will be funded.
“Christchurch City Council delivers a lot of services that touch on every aspect of life in our community – from the water we drink every day to our world-class community facilities – and we do it to a very high standard,” says Council Chief Executive, Bede Carran.
“The Council is acutely conscious of the financial impact that rates have on households and businesses. For this reason, in its Letter of Expectations to staff, Council set itself a challenge to deliver its services, activities, projects and capital programme with rates increases of no more than 6% in 2028, 5% in 2029, and 4% in 2030 – all without reducing levels of service.”
Mr Carran says Council staff have been able to keep the projected 2027/28 rates increase to 6% in the draft LTP presented to the Mayor and Councillors.
“This first draft of the LTP has delivered what was asked for, while navigating the local government reforms and a difficult economic environment, with rising costs in a number of areas.”
Finance and Performance Committee Chair, Sam MacDonald says councillors have been very clear from the outset about their expectations for the LTP.
“We’ve given the organisation clear parameters to work within as they develop this draft. That has put Christchurch well ahead of the game, with a draft in front of us significantly earlier than usual, and earlier than our peers across the country,” Cr MacDonald says.
“Importantly, the savings identified to meet the proposed rates capping can be delivered without impacting frontline services.
“Years of prudent financial decisions have left us in a very strong position relative to most councils around the country, and that’s something Christchurch should be very proud of.”
The proposed Local Government (Rates Capping) Amendment Bill requires councils to keep annual rates increases within a target range of 2% to 4%, taking full effect from 1 July 2029.
Mr Carran says the Council has been able to reach a potential 6% increase by looking at how it delivers its services.
“We’ve worked hard to find efficiencies across the whole organisation, as well as having a disciplined framework by which the capital programme has been developed,” he said.
“This approach to the capital programme is an extension of the practice we’ve been following the last few years, which is all about focusing on doing what’s realistic and deliverable.
“We want to stress that although this is the first draft, we’ve begun this process as we intend to continue, and our elected members will keep refining the draft plan over the next few months.”
Although the rates cap doesn’t apply to water services, this draft of the LTP has them funded within an overall 6% rates increase.
Residents will be able to follow development of the LTP through workshops and briefings online, and get a chance to have their say on the formally adopted draft plan early in 2027 when it goes out for consultation, the Council confirmed in a statement.
