Annual Plan 2024-25 Adopted

Council has adopted the Annual Plan 2024/25 at an Extraordinary Council Meeting today.

This was scheduled to be the first year of the Long Term Plan 2024-34, however due to uncertainty around Government reforms and direction, Council produced an Enhanced Annual Plan for 2024/25 and a nine-year Long Term Plan will be created next year.

There will be an overall rates increase of 13.6%, a slight decrease on the 13.8% that was proposed and consulted on with our community.

Council received 34 submissions from the public, and 10 of those spoke at the submission hearings.

In light of the challenging economic climate and feedback from the community, Council decided to remove the Boland Park Learn to Ride project from Council’s list of projects.

The survey and detailed design already done for the project will be made available to any community group that may wish to progress the project.

The removal of the project would enable Council to redirect $130,000 from Government’s Better Off Fund towards Local Water Done Well activities.

Mayor Craig Rowley said while removing this project would only make a very small saving for ratepayers, the overall rates increase was not due to ambitious projects but reflected the increased costs to Council’s core business.

“We are aware this comes at a financially difficult time for some people, unfortunately we are not immune to inflation and bear many of the same cost pressures as everyone else,” Mayor Rowley said.

“Costs have increased on all fronts. Water, roading, waste management, and Government compliance, are some of the services which Council needs to provide and have all become much more expensive.”

“This plan is one that allows us to maintain current levels of service and prioritises looking after our existing assets.”

Council wants to thank everyone who took the time to make a submission and those who spoke to their submission at the hearing. The full Annual Plan 2024/25 document is available to view on Council’s website.