Nelson Community Plan 2009/19

Nelson's ten year plan for the future

Final decisions have been made

After receiving more than 1,200 submissions and hearing over 170 submitters, Council spent four days deciding what to leave in or take out of the Nelson Community Plan.

Rates increase

The overall rates and charges increase is 3.2%. An important point for ratepayers to note is that the general rate will increase by more than 3.2% but that wastewater, stormwater and water charges will decrease.

Submissions included concerns on the proposed debt levels and the impact of the deferral of principal loan payments over the next few years.

Projects passing as proposed

In the consultation document, several projects were discussed at length and Council decided it will adopt a few of them as originally proposed, including both infrastructure projects to make a duplicate Maitai pipeline and for the Bells Island Sewerage pipeline upgrade.

Loan repayments are going to be put off as laid out in the original proposal, but this decision only increases Council debt by $10m, with the balance in increase in debt levels reflecting improved infrastructure and community facilities.

The proposed Performing Arts and Conference Centre will remain in the Nelson Community Plan, with Council deciding the project would now move ahead to explore ways to deliver a $28M Performing Arts and Conference Centre on the Rutherford Street/Selwyn Place site.

Revisions on proposed projects
Recycling

Recycling services are set to improve rather than reduce as proposed in the draft Nelson Community Plan because markets for paper, plastic, steel, aluminium tins and cardboard have improved since the drafting of the Community Plan. Submissions showed reluctance to let go of the excellent progress made with recycling; people are really committed to the scheme. Subject to final approval of the Nelson Community Plan, it is hoped that collection of the new types of plastics could begin in July this year, but Council staff will need to liaise with Nelmac, their recycling contractor to confirm this. For more information on the recycling changes, read the Council's full media release.

Community housing rents rise

Council decided to hold community housing rents at the current level for the next year at least. After considering feedback and submissions, and the impact on ratepayers generally, Council has resolved to not to proceed with the proposal. This means there will now be no additional increase in the percentage of rent in the 2009/10 financial year, as had been proposed. Council will however review the wider issues of its involvement in and management of community housing later this year.

New measures

In addition to decisions on recycling, Community Housing and a Performing Arts and Conference Centre, Council opted for a raft of other measures while still keeping rates and charges at the level signalled in the Plan. These include:

  • A reduction in loan interest costs of approximately $600,000 per annum as interest rates have reduced since the draft Plan was prepared
  • Funding lights for the Rutherford tennis courts 2010/11 $60,000
  • An increase in the funding for changing rooms/toilets/maintenance building at Saxton Field of $240,000 to bring the total up to $990,000
  • Funding drainage at Saxton Field $90,000
  • Contributing towards toilets at Avery Field at Saxton Field $144,000 (NCC share of $240,000, the remainder from TDC)
  • Funding an additional $470,000 for improvements to the Trafalgar Centre, including toilets and changing facilities at the western side
  • Funding to provide free entry to Founders Heritage Park for Nelson residents $10,000 per annum
  • Providing support for the Theatre Royal by underwriting a $1.2m loan
  • Funding a $90,000 suspensory loan to Rainbow Ski Field to be matched by the Tasman and Marlborough District Councils
  • Funding for further close circuit television units for the inner city $20,000 plus $5,000 in 2010/11
  • Funding for the Nelson School of Music once the current funding agreement finishes in 09/10 of $50,000 per annum
  • Increasing funding to the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary by $10,000 per annum
  • Additional funding for the Nelson Richmond commuter bus service $37,000

Adoption

Council will adopt the Plan at its next full Council meeting on 25 June and it will become operational on 1 July 2009.

Why we need a Community Plan

Formerly known as the Long-term Council Community Plan, or LTCCP for short, the Nelson Community Plan 2009/19 is the Council's ten year planning document.

The Community Plan encourages consistency in Council’s approach and gives certainty for the community. It allows for integrated decision-making, land use planning, infrastructure and facilities development, environmental protection, outlines how Council will provide services as the population increases and summarises Council’s financial allocation and prioritisation process. It also explains how Council will assess its own performance.

We want to provide our community with carefully considered options and seek your involvement in making some hard choices. A Draft Community Plan is developed so you can see what Council thinks is the best course of action and so you can let us know whether we’re on the right track.

Legislation says councils have to be accountable to their community. Once we have your feedback on what is proposed, the resulting plan will direct Council’s work. It also means you and the Council can check at the end of the year that we achieved what we aimed to do. And your feedback will help us improve our performance.

Rates at a glance

Proposed Rates and charges for 2009/10
  • Average increase in rates and charges 3.19%
  • General rate increase excluding water charges 6.32%
  • Decrease in water charges* -4.84%
  • Stormwater charge $232.00
  • The minimum annual water charges (incl GST) $178.38 ($0.489/day)
  • Wastewater charge $329.10

Trade Waste charges (incl GST):

  • Trade Waste A Conveying Charge $371.25/litre/minute
  • Trade Waste A Treatment Charge $905.63/kg BOD/day
  • Trade Waste B Combined Charge $126.00 per m3

* Council will reassess water charges when this Plan is finalised in June to take into account any changes in water consumption by commercial users

Average Rates

An average residential property with a land value of $165,000 would be charged total rates of $1,673.40 in 2009/10, compared with $1,576.80 in 2008/09 incl GST. These figures do not include water charges. Go to the rates database to find out your rates for 2009/10.

Download

Download the final version of the Nelson Community Plan (PDF @ 3.3MB).

Contact

For more information, contact Manager Strategy and Planning on +64 3 546 0364.