Palmerston North City Council reduces and defers long-term plan projects

Palmerston North City Council has reduced the budget for Awapuni Community Library Hub from $27.1m to $8m. Photo / Palmerston North City Council

Conscious of the cost of living. Kicking the can down the road. Responding to submissions. Losing nerve. Residents choosing whether to heat or eat.

These were some of the competing phrases Palmerston North City Council’s elected members used during two and a half days of debate on the draft long-term plan (LTP).

The debate was scheduled for last Wednesday and Thursday but was extended to Friday lunchtime due to the number of amendments proposed.

After morning tea on day two, Mayor Grant Smith said in the interests of not being there for two weeks only three people for a recommendation and three against could speak. He asked elected members not to take up their whole five minutes unless they had to.

The upshot of their work is the total rates increase for July 2024 to June 2025 was reduced from the proposed 11.3 per cent to 10.1 per cent.

The budget for Awapuni Community Library Hub was reduced from $27.1 million to $8m. Smith said the original budget was significantly overdone.

The budget to fit out a new multicultural facility was cut from $750,000 to $450,000. It will now be in the Civic Administration Building. The associated operational budget has been reduced from $200,000 a year to $40,000.

Elected members agreed to defer the start of seismic strengthening of council properties by a year and the Streets for People upgrade in the central city to years 4 and 5.

The project to provide a better-quality bus hub in the central city has been deferred from years 3 and 4 to years 4 and 5 of the LTP. The budget was reduced from $21m to $6m excluding inflation per year.

A council spokesman said the details for what will be built and/or replaced for this capital programme have not been confirmed. Officers are working through a business case process to confirm the location and design of the bus hub.

In its submission, Horizons Regional Council urged the city council to elevate the project’s priority, saying it would enhance bus services and increase patronage.

The development of Te Marae o Hine/The Square has been pushed out by two years.

Funding for professional services was cut by $1m in years 1 and 2, a move Smith said would wean the council off consultants. The council spends around $16m a year on consultants and it was higher under different management.

“We have made some changes but we still need to make some more changes. I have made sure that I’m not cutting off a finger or an arm here.”

Elected members voted to change to a hybrid rating system where 50 per cent of general rates will be determined on land value and 50 per cent on capital value. This will be phased in over three years.

The final draft LTP will be confirmed on June 10. It will then be audited and adopted on June 26.

Judith Lacy has been editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001, and this is her second role editing a community paper.