Council needs to revisit how much to
WITH no new money from the government coffers in the Budget to subsidise flood schemes, the West Coast Regional Council is having to revisit how it funds projects.
The council also has ballooning costs with the Te Tai o Poutini Plan (TTPP) — expected to be up to $6 million — to consider in the next couple of years.
So far the cost of the imposed regional one plan for the West Coast has been levied through rate increases and a $1.1 million loan.
Although the TTPP is seen as a blueprint for the Government’s new regional plan model under the Resource Management Act reforms, the full cost looks set to lie with the 20,000 rateable properties on the
Coast.
That either means more rating, or another loan.
The regional council is already projected to impose a general rates increase of 10%, in line with its 202131 longterm plan.
Chief executive Heather Mabin said it was clear the council would not receive any more infrastructure money in the next year.
Also, the implications for the regional council’s own $10.2 million Westport scheme — after the Government chipped in $22.9 million last week — had yet to be worked through, she said.
Ms Mabin said now it was clear the Government had prioritised the North Island recovery and the West Coast would have to think again.
‘‘At this stage that has been unsuccessful due to the money going to Cyclone Gabrielle [recovery].’’
Instead it would have to find a way internally.
‘‘We now need to revisit how much — if any — we need to borrow.’’
The council was previously committed in the longterm plan to borrow up to $5.4 million for the Wanganui River rating district scheme at Hari Hari, plus part of the Westport scheme.
Meanwhile, new modelling of the Wanganui River, where the riverbed level is continually rising and constraining existing stopbanks, also had implica