The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has approved for public consultation its draft Long-term Plan (LTP) for the next ten years, which the council says will deliver a lot - but it will also hit ratepayers’ wallets.

Public consultation will now begin and the LTP will be finalised and adopted in June.

ORC chair Andrew Noone said the draft LTP sets out an ambitious programme of improvements to meet the growing expectations for Otago’s environmental management.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do as a council,” he said. “The requirements on regional councils around the country are increasing as the government and our communities take a more urgent interest in environmental issues. 

“We’ve set out an ambitious work programme in the draft LTP to respond to these expectations.”

The draft LTP proposes a total rates increase for Otago of 47.5 per cent in year one, comprising a 73.2 per cent general rates increase ($80 per household on average) and a 29.3 per cent targeted rates increase.

See also: ‘Hefty’ rates increase in ORC long-term plan

“We know the first questions from our ratepayers when we bring an Annual Plan or LTP to the table are, ‘What will it cost?’ and ‘What will it pay for?’,” Andrew said.

He said the ORC recognised the rates increases were “a big step up” from earlier rates.

“Unfortunately, those low rates are no longer sustainable with the work programme in front of us. Catching up with the zero per cent general rates rise that we absorbed last year during Covid-19 lockdown, as well as the extra resources taken on in science and regulation this year, meant a 35 per cent total rates increase before we even began to consider the next ten years.”

Andrew said the big areas of improvement were in science and monitoring, policy, and regulation.

Council plans to invest in more comprehensive and detailed environmental monitoring and science, to give it the best information basis for managing land, water and biodiversity in Otago; ramp up policy work on a new Land and Water Regional Plan that sets out the rules and policies to protect Otago’s environmental values; and improve regulatory function, which includes more capacity for consenting and compliance.

“These are all core functions which, over the long-term, have really important benefits for Otago’s environment,” Andrew said.

Public consultation on the draft LTP will run from April 9 to May 9; consultation documents will be mailed to ratepayers and submissions can also be made online via the ORC website.

“This is a big year for ORC, and it’s a big LTP, so we really encourage people to engage with the proposals and let us know what you think,” Andrew said.

PHOTO: Wanaka App