Horowhenua District Council is currently developing the Annual Plan for 2025/26, and we remain committed to the direction we agreed on in the Long Term Plan 2024-2044. This Annual Plan is Year 2 of the Long Term Plan (LTP), so it builds on the work and feedback we heard from our community when we consulted on it last year.

The LTP was developed when all of New Zealand was facing higher costs, global uncertainty and reform in several key areas such as water and resource management. These challenges remain. The key topics this LTP addressed were to deliver the services our community needs, manage waste and share costs fairly – who pays for what. We are sticking with our approach to these matters agreed at that time.

However, there is a change. The proposed rates increase for 2025/26 is an average of 9.3%, slightly lower than the 9.9% forecast in the Long Term Plan.

“We know every dollar counts,” says Mayor Bernie Wanden. “By keeping a close eye on budgets and finding savings where possible, we’ve managed to reduce the increase while still delivering what matters most to our community.”

Fees and charges for 2025/26 will also be set alongside the Annual Plan. Fees will increase by an average of 2.8% and there will be other changes to a small number of fees.

“Because Council is sticking with the Long Term Plan, it also means that further savings can be made by reducing consultation costs,” says Mayor Bernie. The Local Government Act recognises that where Councils are sticking with the Long Term Plan and not making significant or material changes, consultation isn’t needed as there are no key decisions to ask about.

The Food Act and Resource Management Act are subject to different requirements, and as such we will be consulting on the related proposed fees.

“Consultation is important, but it isn’t cheap. Sending letters to all ratepayers costs more than $17,000, including postage,” explains Mayor Bernie. “We’ll seek your feedback on those fees but we’d rather spend that amount of money on a big issue we need your feedback on.”

Something that we will be consulting the community on in the coming months is how we manage our district’s water services. It will be one of the biggest decisions that Council makes. Should Council continue to deliver these services, or should we join forces with other councils in a combined model? Before we make that call, we’ll be asking for the community’s feedback to help guide us.

In the meantime, we’re focusing on delivering services within our means. Careful planning and a focus on cost savings have led us to this approach, which we’re carrying forward into this Annual Plan.

We’ll keep you updated as we refine the draft Annual Plan and prepare for adoption by 30 June 2025

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