Napier's Annual Plan discussions to be Facebook chats, replacing community meetings

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise encourages ratepayers and residents to have their say. Photo / Supplied

A busy round of public consultation is set to start in Napier as the city council moves post-pandemic with its annual plan, rates postponement and remission proposals, a need for finance borrowing facilities and protection of its wastewater outfall.

Proposals were completed at an extraordinary council meeting today which adopted the consultation document for the draft Annual Plan, with live Facebook chats replacing community meetings that would normally have been held.

The consultation opens next Thursday (June 18), and will include three "live-chat" sessions via social media on June 23, July 2 and July 9, and a hearing of submissions on August 12-13, with the aim of adopting the plan and striking of rates on August 27.

The council currently proposes a 4.8 per cent rates rise and mayor Kirsten Wise said water "remains the number one priority, specifically the city's drinking water supply and network, and the wastewater outfall."

The council's Covid-19 lockdown recovery plan, the rollout of wheelie bins for kerbside rubbish collection, and returning Napier Library to its central city buildings are also topics.

The Covid-19 crisis, reduced income and increased costs related to recovery forced the rewriting of some sections of the documents.

It has also altered the way consultation will be conducted, with residents and ratepayers encouraged to go online to participate in Facebook chat sessions.

No community meetings have been planned, in case things change and restrictions on public gatherings come back into play, Wise says.

Hard copies of the consultation document will be available to view at the Customer Service Centre and both libraries, where people can drop off their submissions, although online submissions are encouraged. All information can be viewed, and submissions made at www.sayitnapier.nz