Increases in fees and charges for council services have been carefully considered, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) says.

Councillors adopted the fee increases at a council meeting at the end of June, following community consultation, and the new charges came into effect at the start of the month. 

Most fees for the council’s popular sport and recreation services - including swimming at council pools, hiring meeting rooms, sports courts and venue spaces, and using health and fitness facilities -  increased by no more than four percent.

A single-trip swim pass at the Wānaka Recreation Centre pool has not increased for adults, and beneficiaries, seniors and children will pay an extra twenty cents; renting its outdoor artificial turf costs users no more than four percent more.

The cost of hourly sports courts use at Paetara Aspiring Central has increased by three percent; and venue rental for the Luggate Memorial Centre, Hāwea Flat Hall and Lake Wānaka Centre is up by 3.2-3.8 percent depending on the length of the booking. 

More substantial increases have been applied for landing fees at Wānaka Airport (up between 15 and 30 percent) and for jetty permits, private moorings and commercial moorings, which are up 186 percent, 100 percent and 72 percent respectively.

Three councillors voted against a $500 annual fee for jetty permits, private and commercial moorings: deputy mayor Quentin Smith (Wānaka), Nikki Gladding (Glenorchy), and Esther Whitehead (Queenstown Whakatipu).

The increases are lower than those initially proposed (the highest under the proposal was a 220 percent increase for private moorings), and QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen noted that moorings received the most feedback during consultation.

“It’s important fees and charges are kept up to date and reflect the costs of delivering activities and services on behalf of the community,” he said. “In most cases, what people pay is a contribution towards the whole cost rather than the full amount.”

Other fees and charges have also increased across environmental health, parks and reserves, libraries and planning and development.

“An important factor behind the changes is recent higher inflation that has seen people in our district and around the country paying more for a range of things from groceries to power,” Mike said.

“Council is not immune from this. The process has been considered carefully by elected members and council officers with these pressures in mind.”

Fees and charges make up approximately 15.5 percent of council’s sources of funding over the next ten years, Mike said.

“Without these increases, an increase in rates equivalent to $1.15M – or nearly one percentage point – would have been required, shifting more of the cost onto all ratepayers and away from those who directly benefit from using these services,” he said.

Find the full schedule of new fees and charges, which took effect from July 1, here.

QLDC’s user fees and charges are reviewed every year.

PHOTO: Supplied