Councillors will be asked to defer the adoption of the Long Term Plan 2024-2034 (LTP) by up to three months at Thursday’s (February 15) council meeting.

The delay would give council staff time to plan for water delivery services following the new government’s decision to repeal Three Waters legislation, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) general manager corporate services Meaghan Miller said.

“While deferring the plan does have several operational implications, it does allow us the necessary time to complete the additional work required to plan for water service delivery throughout the full ten year period…” she said.

Mayor Glyn Lewers told the Wānaka App the council has estimated it would cost around $150-180M a year to design, procure and deliver a three waters project.

Queenstown Lakes District has “such a high visitor load” the costs are “far on the extreme” compared to other councils, he said.

He said the challenge for QLDC is to “grow other revenue streams”.

“Three waters makes up a significant portion of overall council expenditure and service delivery so like every other council across the country, we will be having some challenging conversations around investment prioritisation and larger than expected rates increases,” Meaghan said.

If the LTP deferral is approved by councillors, the LTP will be adopted on September 19.

Deferring the LTP would affect timing of some other council operations.

User fees and charges for council services would occur separately, in April; community grants would be run as a separate process, expected to happen in April. 

Consultation on the Development Contributions Policy would happen at the same time as the LTP. 

The Annual Report 2023-2024 would also be delayed by up to two months - meaning it would be adopted no later than December 21.

PHOTO: Wānaka App