Marlborough District Councillors adopted the Long Term Plan 2021 - 2031 (LTP) today.

Mayor John Leggett thanked Councillors and staff for their work in preparing the LTP.

“We’ve managed to keep this year’s rates increase to 5.1%. Although this is higher than usual for Marlborough it is lower than the 5.73% we proposed in our Consultation Document, and is considerably lower than many other councils’ rate increases this year.”

“We were conscious that the pressure on our reserves is greater than usual this year, due to our increased infrastructure spend, the Covid-19 recovery, inflation and a raft of new Government regulations,” he said.

“The Council’s infrastructure programme will see a record $77 million budgeted in 2021/22 and an average $72 million budgeted in each of the following nine years. The biggest spending areas are in roading, sewerage and water supply, reflecting our continued focus on core services.”

“There will also be investment in new economic development initiatives, more support for the Marlborough Events Centre and increased funding for environmental protection, including the processing of seabed mapping data from the Marlborough Sounds.”

The Mayor thanked the 130 people and organisations who submitted on the LTP.

For further information go to https://www.marlborough.govt.nz/your-council/long-term-and-annual-plans-policies-and-reports/long-term-plan/2021-31-long-term-plan/2021-31-long-term-plan-final-document

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