NPDC's $3 billion work programme gets the green light

Today the Mayor and Councillors gave final approval to their 10-year work programme worth more than $3 billion which concentrates on fixing our tired and run down water infrastructure. 

The work programme includes: $248 million to Fix the Plumbing, about $38 million to Green Our Place by planting an urban forest and extending the Taranaki Traverse and Coastal Walkways, and Paying it Forward for our Kids by injecting $40 million into a Sport Taranaki-led multi-purpose hub.

New Plymouth District Mayor Neil Holdom says the 10-Year Plan has been more than a year in the making and listening to public feedback over this period was paramount in deciding the priorities. This was achieved via the Top Ten Kōrero public conversation last year which received around 9,400 survey responses and the Your Home, Your Say discussion which received almost 5,000 pieces of public feedback.

“Our Councillors hit the road and listened to our people from Urenui to Ōkato and a big thanks to everyone who took the time share their thoughts. It was a real balancing act between keeping rates affordable and investing in our water infrastructure to ensure we have safe drinking water and we keep sewage in the pipes, not polluting our beautiful awa (rivers) and whenua (land),” says Mayor Holdom. 

Key features of the 10-Year Plan are:

• A 12 per cent rates rise in the first year and an average of 6 per cent over the next nine years for the average urban homeowner.
• Water meters for all homes, including a working party with public interest groups to determine the pricing structure as part of a broader water savings plan.
• To help offset costs, there’ll be some changes in pricing from 1 July at our pools, cemeteries and for parking to help share the load among ratepayers. 

For more details, check the 240-page council report.

 Additional facts: New prices 1 July 2021

• Pool fees at Todd Energy Aquatic Centre will rise by $1 on average and regional pools in Inglewood, Waitara and Ōkato will cost about $2 more per entry when they open over the summer. 
  This will help cover the $4 million it costs to run our pools each year. But gym memberships and venue hire won’t rise.
• Leased parking in the central city will rise by up to $1 a day and metered parking at all NPDC car parks will be $2 an hour – the same as parking on Devon Street – but SuperGold Card holders will still have free parking till 11 am.
• Central city businesses have asked us to bring in an hour free parking plus extend paid parking till 7pm, and we’ve agreed in principle, but we want to hear from you first, so please fill in our public survey by 16 July at newplymouthnz.com/haveyoursay.
• The cost of a burial plot and associated fees (interment) are going up at 11 cemeteries across the District as we think about future usage.
• From 1 July it’ll cost $4163 to for a double burial plot and $2389 for associated fees (interment).