Selwyn District Council is forecasting a 14.2 per cent average rates increase following this year’s 14.9 per cent. Today councillors voted eight to two not to open the 2025/26 Annual Plan up for public consultation.
Only councillors Lydia Gliddon and Grant Miller voted for consultation.
Mayor Sam Broughton, deputy mayor Malcolm Lyall, and councillors Elizabeth Mundt, Sophie McInnes, Shane Epiha, Phil Dean Nicole Reid, Bob Mugford agreed with the staff recommendation.
Councillor Debra Hasson was absent.
Council staff have recommended an “engage and inform” approach is taken instead of public consultation.
This means the council would tell people what it is planning to do, but people would not have an opportunity to give feedback.
Prior to the vote Darfield Residents Association chair Harvey Polglase told Selwyn Times he was surprised by the proposal.
“We’re basically being told this is what is going to happen take it or leave it . . . This is not democracy,” he said.
Double-digit rates rises are set to continue until the 2027/28 financial year.
Polglase said high rates increases were already affecting people with fixed incomes.
“I’ve heard of some people on fixed incomes who are struggling to afford the rates increases.
“There has been a 30 per cent increase over two years. This is not what the public wants.”
Rolleston Residents Association chair Mark Alexander said the association disagreed with the council's recommendation.
“Councils owe their community a consultation,” the former councillor told Selwyn Times.
“The most important thing the council does in the year is consult its community on its expenditure.”
At its October meeting, the Rolleston Residents Association joined the Darfield Residents Association in asking the council to review all of its projects and council assets which could be sold to reduce rates.
Alexander said by not having a consultation, the council appeared to be making no effort to reduce rates.
Ahead of the meeting Alexander addressed councillors in a public forum.
“Your job isn’t always to make life easy for staff it is good if you can but that shouldn't be your priority representation is.
“We owe it to our community to consult. It is their money.” he said.
This year the council signed off the 2024-34 Long Term Plan, with the next due in 2027. Annual plans are used as checkpoints in between.
More than 1500 people submitted on last year’s rate rise.
The council is legally required to produce an annual plan, but not required to consult the public as long as there has not been any significant or material change.
The report to councillors said management has assessed any changes and found none “proposed have a high level of significance or materiality for the community”.
The report states the main impact of having a consultation would be on redirecting staff productivity into it at the expense of other work.
One of the biggest changes is a $27 million reduction in transport funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency, which saw the council fund a shortened list of projects, cutting others.
“If a reduction of road funding from $30 million to $3 million is not significant then what is,” Alexander said.
The report said because it was noted in the long-term plan projects were dependent on NZTA funding the need for consultation was met.
The report stated no consultation would give the community confidence in the council’s processes, decision-making ability, and deliverability of what was already agreed in the LTP.
- Have your say: Did the council make the right decision? Send us your views in 200 words or less to daniel.alvey@starmedia.kiwi
