COUNCIL NEWS

Average rates rise nationwide at 15 percent – April 2024

By Councillor Aidan Ellims

I’m writing this column on 20 March and over the last few days it has definitely had an

autumnal feel with cooler temperatures overnight and dew in the mornings. We’ve had a few showers of rain, however, not yet really enough to change the colour of the hills from brown to green.

Last month, Pain Estate was a hot topic of discussion and since then, council has obtained a new legal opinion, which has been included into a report detailing the Pain Farm History, Legality and Consultation for the Treated Waste Water Disposal. 

This report was presented at the Council meeting on 27 March and is available on the council website, under the agenda for that meeting. By the time this edition of The Martinborough Star has been published, we will all know how the Council meeting progressed.

Earlier this month the Chair of Local Government NZ, Sam Broughton and CEO Susan Freeman-Greene visited South Wairarapa and spoke with some Councillors and our CEO.

Some of the takeaway points from this meeting were that across NZ, all councils are going through their Long Term/Annual Plan processes with the range of rate increases between 6% and 24%, with an average of 15%.

Every council seems to have their water infrastructure, i.e. drinking water, waste and storm water as priorities this year. While the new Government in their “Local Water Done Well” programme has said that they won’t be providing funding for  council’s, they are implementing a new programme which will give councils the opportunity to partner with other councils and set up Council Controlled Organisations to manage water services across multiple areas to achieve economies of scale and access funding.

SWDC is already in this model with Wellington Water and there has been plenty of debate as to whether this model has worked for us. Moving forward, could SWDC, partner with Carterton, Masterton and possibly Tararua District Councils in the water services space to provide a better result for our ratepayers than what we have with Wellington Water? This will be a discussion for the future…

Also in March, we received a briefing from Destination Wairarapa who provided us with

facts and figures on both domestic and international travellers to the Wairarapa which was

interesting.

For the year end to October 2023, domestic travellers had spent $83.7m in Masterton, $23.5m in  Carterton and $90.3m in SWDC, while international tourists to the year end at October 2023 had spent $14.7m in Masterton, $1.7m in Carterton and $10.4m in SWDC. These are some impressive figures. 

We also learnt of a number of local businesses such as the Patuna Chasm, which has attracted 9,000 visitors this season, have been very busy so the figures above will no doubt have increased over summer.

On other topics, the project to upgrade the pedestrian lighting around The Square is underway with the tender being released soon. The intention is that work will commence in July this year when the new financial year rolls around. I for one, along with many others in Martinborough have been waiting for this project to start for some time and can’t wait to see it completed.

Another good news story is that the bulk of the Hinekura Road project has been completed with major earthworks finished and final touches such as fencing and planting to be carried out. 

The contractor Brownell Earthmoving Ltd and Geotech specialist have worked long hours to complete the work within the timeframe proposed by Council. The work is expected to come in on budget and the road is now open to all traffic. 

With the new road cut through the slip zone, which was the preference of the Hinekura community, it now gives them easy and direct access back and forwards to Martinborough again, something which they have not had for some time. Council are planning a small opening ceremony shortly to celebrate the event.

Finally, in early April, Council will be releasing the consultation document for the Enhanced Annual Plan. This will set out the priorities and budget for council over the next year, what the projects will cost and what effect this will have on rates for the 2024/2025 year. 

I encourage as many people as possible to attend a drop-in session with councillors and council staff, and then provide a submission on what you think the priorities should be. Consultation will close in early May so please have your say on what is important to you. 

All the best for March. The harvest is starting in our vineyards again and getting busy for winemakers and vineyard staff, while farmers around the district have either put the ram out or getting ready to. 

Hopefully the weather holds for harvest, but farmers are wanting some moisture to help the autumn sown crops before the soil temperatures drop to much.

To contact me to discuss any issues, please email aidan.ellims@swdc.govt.nz

ends