Prospero Place upgrades, water delivery line replacements and earthquake strengthening the TET Multi-Sports Stadium are some key points in Stratford District Council’s long-term plan.
The 10-year plan, adopted at a council meeting on Tuesday, July 9, comes with a 15.37% average rate increase for 2024/25 and an average rate increase of 4.3% for the remaining nine years of the plan.
The adoption of the LTP follows 12 months of conversations with the community, elected member workshops, line-by-line budget reviewing, a month of consultation, hearings and deliberations and, more recently, the final audit.
Mayor Neil Volzke said the long-term plan demanded lots of staff time and was the most important document elected members were involved with.
“Looking out to the next 10 years and focusing on what needs to be done in the first three, before we go through this process again, is a meaty piece of work. It involves many decisions, big and small, lots of debate and balancing community expectations against what’s realistic within the resources available to us. We’ve been upfront about the rise in rates and the reason behind it throughout this process and, like other councils across New Zealand, we’ve discussed what we’d have to lose to keep rates low.”
