Councillors will consider a range of significant items - from the Annual Plan to the draft Freedom Camping Bylaw - at tomorrow’s (Thursday June 26) full council meeting in Wānaka.

The agenda also includes a negotiation approach for the Regional Deal, a tri-council bid for a deal with central government for support with infrastructure and tourism; the Queenstown Airport Corporation’s (QAC) statement of intent for the coming year; and Community Fund allocation recommendations.

The Annual Plan, which sets out spending priorities and determines rates for the year, has been developed this year without the usual public consultation process.

Formal consultation on the draft wasn’t necessary because there was no change to the average rates increase of 13.5 percent signalled in the Long Term Plan nor any change to the “level of service” provided by the council, according to Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) corporate services general manager Meghan Miller.

Aside from a few changes to user fees and charges, most of which are in line with Customer Price Index (CPI), and an increase to developer contributions in line with inflation, it remains mostly unchanged - and residents can expect the 13.5 percent rates increase as indicated.

Meanwhile, if councillors adopt the draft Freedom Camping Bylaw tomorrow it will go out for public consultation in July and could be in effect before the summer.

QLDC’s former freedom camping bylaw was quashed in the High Court last year, leaving the district with few freedom camping restrictions over the past summer.

The new bylaw, which QLDC has been working on for some time, is “the most appropriate way of addressing the perceived problems associated with freedom camping”, according to the agenda item’s covering report. 

Local groups and organisations will be awaiting the outcome of this year’s Community Fund, which councillors will have the final say on tomorrow.

The annual fund, which supports charities, clubs, and not-for-profit organisations doing good in the community, has $180,000 to allocate district-wide for the 2025-2026 year.

At least ten Upper Clutha community groups made their case for a slice of the Community Fund pie in May - from sports clubs to predator management groups and native planting organisations.

Local event organisers will also be keen to hear back on this year’s Event Fund (which provides funding to groups hosting events that benefit the district), which will also be finalised tomorrow.

As is usually the case, the final council meeting of the financial year is a full one - there are a total of 14 items on the agenda - and councillors could be in for a long afternoon.

The full council meeting will take place at the Lake Wānaka Centre’s Armstrong Room from 1pm.