Growth catalyst for Hurunui plan changes

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

The Hurunui district’s rapid growth could see some changes in this year’s annual plan.

A record number of consents for new houses (197) were issued last year, which has led to a number of capital projects being brought forward, chief executive Hamish Dobbie says.

Council staff were busy preparing the draft 2023-24 annual plan to present to councillors in the coming weeks.

‘‘Our mission focus is the continuation of the (2021-31) long-term plan and keeping rates rises affordable.

‘‘We have pulled a number capital projects forward because of the growth, so it might be a lower capital programme than we signalled.’’

The bulk of Hurunui’s growth has been in Amberley and Hanmer Springs, but there has been growth across the district, mayor Marie Black said.

Last year’s 2022-23 annual plan saw a rates hike of 10.5%, as councillors opted to stick to its commitments in the long-term plan (LTP).

A rates rise of just 4.99% had been signalled in the LTP, but rising inflation and the impact of Covid-19 took its toll.

Capital projects included three waters infrastructure, roading, footpaths and building new public toilets.

Roading was set to feature again, as the council faced the challenge of upgrading roads to be fit for purpose for today’s transport network.

Dobbie said the recent heavy rain had demonstrated the vulnerability of the district’s roads.

The Lake Sumner Road suffered extensive damage.

‘‘The road might only service two or three properties, but for those properties the needs are equal to any other road,’’ he said.

Hurunui received a 52% subsidy from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency, but it was mainly for maintenance.

Emergency funding was also available for severe weather events.

‘‘This is an ongoing problem. We are seeing climate change in action,’’ Dobbie said.

‘‘We are built for 1-in-20 or 1-in-50 year events, but we are seeing a lot more events and often quite localised, so just fixing things all the time is not the way of the future.

‘‘So future funding of local government is so important. At the end of the day we want resilient networks and our communities want resilient networks.’’

■ Public interest journalism funded through New Zealand on Air.