No public consultation on annual plan
Matamata-Piako District Council is outlining its annual budget for 2022/2023 but this year public engagement is not on the list.
The council said it thoroughly engaged with the public during 2021 about its plans for the next decade and, because the next plan consists of much of ‘‘the same’’, it won’t be repeating the consultation.
‘‘Because we’re not planning anything extra, and the costs are so close to what we had already consulted on, council has opted not to consult with the community on the 2022/23 Annual Plan and budget,’’ a council statement said.
‘‘Even though we’re not consulting, we want to make sure you can see what we’re planning and how we’re funding it.’’
Key priorities for the approaching year ahead included delivering general services, maintaining the local pools and public libraries, processing resource and building consents and supporting community grants.
More in-depth projects which council said it would continue to work on included the multimillion-dollar Te Aroha spa project, updated water sources for Morrinsville, rubbish and recycling changes and further projects to revitalise their town centre.
The council also assured the public it will continue to engage communities on new dog parks in Matamata and Te Aroha, the Morrinsville Recreation Grounds Master Plan, and the Swim Zone Matamata roof replacement, they said.
The publicly notified rates from 2021 which sat at 5.47% were also going to slightly increase to 5.59% for 2022/2023.
District mayor Ash Tanner agreed that public consultation was not necessary this time around.
Although he would be stepping down at the end of this term, he was looking forward to seeing further progress on the Morrinsville water supply and securing more reliable water access while also restoring various areas that had deteriorated such as the Te Aroha boat ramp and Te Aroha Domain skate park.
‘‘It doesn’t really vary a lot from our long term plan, there’s not a huge step outside what we were thinking, especially surrounding a rate increase ... there’s probably actually no need to go out and consult,’’ Tanner said.
‘‘Just by nature I’d always like it to move a bit quicker, but I’m pretty happy actually because let’s face it, it’s been challenging to get work done, all the contractors seem to be busy . . .all the supply is coming from overseas . . . I am very happy with the progress that we seem to be making.’’
Matamata ward councillor Adrienne Wilcock, who has put her name forward for mayor this coming election, was not available for comment.