Annual Plan addresses major issues

Addressing traffic congestion and rating changes that should increase the supply of affordable housing are the two major initiatives included in the Annual Plan consultation that Queenstown Lakes District Council will begin tomorrow (Wednesday).

Mayor Vanessa van Uden said the Council remained committed to prudent financial management. Close scrutiny of budgets and programmes had reduced the proposed rates increase to 2.56% instead of the 3.27% forecast in last year’s 10-Year Plan.

This year’s annual plan highlights a small number of significant variations between what the Council put forward in the 10 Year Plan and what is now required. The changes generally reflected growth in the district, leading to increased demand for services and infrastructure,” Mayor van Uden said.

“We are in a period of sustained high growth and we have to invest in our infrastructure and staff to deliver the levels of service that the community needs.”

The Council is seeking feedback on its proposal to move more quickly than originally planned to cater for the traffic coming into downtown Queenstown. That would enable a transport and parking hub to be considered alongside the business case for the first two stages of the Inner Links project.

Proposed changes to the way the Council rates farmland that has been zoned for development, and a reduction in the rates for residential flats are both designed to help increase the supply of affordable housing. Mayor van Uden said that the rating change for undeveloped farmland would discourage landbanking and should make more land available for development.

Other proposals that the Council is consulting on were not signalled in the 10 Year Plan but have become issues over the last 12 months. They include the need to allocate funds for the control of the invasive water weed Lagarosiphon; a community initiative to prevent trees on the Ladies Mile being cut down by helping pay to move powerlines underground; and planning to bring all Queenstown-based QLDC staff under one roof instead of working from three separate locations.

The Council is also speeding up the commissioning of new sewage treatment facilities at Project Shotover; opening the Wanaka Sports Facility earlier than originally planned; and increasing spending on the review of the District Plan. Mayor van Uden said each of those decisions had been a direct response to the pressures of increased growth. The Council is not consulting on those issues but is bringing them to the community’s attention.

Online feedback opens tomorrow on the QLDC website www.qldc.govt.nz with a guide to the annual plan being printed and delivered to all ratepayers starting next week.

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