Consultation on the 2024-2034 plan ran from April 2 until May 2.
“There was a large last-minute rush of submissions coming in [on Thursday] and we are still processing the submissions so expect the total may increase,” she said.
“Like many councils around the country, elected members have some really hard decisions to make and community feedback is invaluable in helping the council to understand the priorities of our community.”
The council was really pleased with the level of feedback received, she said.
“All submissions will be considered by councillors before they make their decisions in early June.”
The public could have its say on a range of options, including a $55 million hotel and carpark project, the sale of $16m of council assets and the closure of the Davis Library for one day a week.
Public hearings on the LTP will be held on May 14-16 in the council chamber.
Broadbent said due to the large number of submissions received, deliberations - “when councillors make their final decisions on the matters raised in the plan” - would now take place on June 5, 6 and 7.
They were originally scheduled for May 28 and 29.
The LTP must be adopted by June 30.
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.