Some of those who voted for the plan lamented the significant rates increase they were handing to their constituents.
Still, the plan was also lauded for its prudence and as an investment in the environment.
Year one of the plan will include an average 16.3% rates rise.
Cr Alexa Forbes said the council had done a lot internally to make sure it was running efficiently.
Yet, it faced increasing demands from a changing environment, environmental degradation, climate change "and from our communities — as they become more aware of this, they want more from us".
"We’ve all had to struggle with and think about a cost-of-living crisis, cost-of-farming crisis, all sorts of things going on, but top of mind for many of us is the increasing demands from a changing climate and from a degrading environment on many measures."
Cr Elliot Weir said the long-term plan was something "to celebrate".
Cr Weir said while the plan involved rates increases, Otago’s were not as bad as other places.
The increases were not due to "aspirational work programmes" the council was adding, but rather "the things that councils haven’t done for years, and decades, prior".
"I think to have a long-term plan where we can deliver on a community desire to have a $2million large-scale biodiversity fund, to deliver some moderate increases to the bus services of Dunedin, to transform the bus service in Queenstown, to continue to deliver some of the work programmes that the community has been asking for a long time ... is really something to celebrate."
Cr Kate Wilson said she was not happy with the rates rise.
"However, it isn’t a perfect process.
"Is it better than where we were? Yes."
Cr Bryan Scott said he sympathised with people concerned about the rates increases and the council’s course was "not sustainable".
However, the council was signalling significant increases in year one of the plan and then for the increases to "taper off" thereafter.
The council still had important work to do on water quality, biodiversity and climate change, Cr Scott said.
"At the end of the day, an investment in our environment needs to be a priority," he said.
Cr Andrew Noone said while he knew submitters were asking the council to do more, the message he heard had been to do "more with less".
In the financial year beginning next month, the council’s focus ought to be on ensuring next year’s rates increase was a single-digit increase rather than the projected double-digit increase for next year as well, he said.
Cr Tim Mepham said the council had "generally" managed to keep rates within a reasonable limit.
Cr Michael Laws said the council had "an extraordinary appetite for other people’s money".
He questioned the council’s spending priorities, including construction of its new headquarters in Dunedin, "and it doesn’t seem to perform adequately its basic responsibilities, especially in pest management".
Cr Gary Kelliher said he was fundamentally opposed to the plan.
The council was reaching a level where it was too big for the service it provided, and unpalatable rates increases had "become habitual".
Crs Kelliher, Laws and Kevin Malcolm voted against adopting the plan.
