Annual Plan 2025/26
UPDATE 16 June 2025
Council Confirms Key Decisions Ahead of 2025/26 Annual Plan Adoption
Tararua District Council has wrapped up deliberations on its 2025/26 Annual Plan, with adoption scheduled for 25 June. Councillors considered 45 submissions and confirmed several key decisions, including an average rates increase of 7.71% and updates to fees and charges.
Footpaths:
Council will allocate $150,000 from reserves to fund priority footpath renewals, addressing safety without increasing rates. This follows strong public feedback against adding to the rates bill.
Waisplash Carpark:
Council will investigate purchasing land on York Street to support future carpark expansion at the Waisplash Community Aquatic Centre. Public support was strong, and the land would be funded from the General-Purpose Fund — not rates.
Dannevirke Information Centre:
The Centre will relocate to the Council service centre from 30 June, after the Incorporated Society opted to cease operations. While no funding changes were made, Council acknowledged concerns about communication and committed to improving future engagement.
Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC):
The UAGC will remain at 35% of general rates for 2025/26. Council will explore potential changes through the next Long-Term Plan process.
📺 You can watch the deliberations on our YouTube channel: 4 June Council Meeting.
Stats from the Annual Plan 2025/26 Consultation
We had a total of 45 submissions for this consultation.
As we shape the Draft Annual Plan for 2025/26, we’ve listened to your feedback, focusing on efficiency and value for money. This Annual Plan sets out what the council will do next year, highlighting where we’ve adjusted course from the Long-Term Plan (LTP).
This year, the only thing we’re consulting on is footpath maintenance and repairs. That’s because NZTA has cut its funding for this, so together we need to decide what to do next. Should we clean footpaths less often to match the lower budget, or should we keep things the same and cover the cost with rates?
We are asking for your feedback on how to fix the parking issues at WaiSplash Pool. Parking is tight, especially during sports events at the nearby domain, and it’s becoming a safety concern. One option is for the Council to buy land to extend the carpark. This wouldn’t cost ratepayers extra, as we could use a reserve fund. Before we make any decisions, we want to know what you think. Should we buy land to expand the carpark? Do you see this as a good long-term investment for the district? As said, we would really like to hear what you think of this plan.
Click on the image below and read our Consultation Document like a real book! Just click on the arrows to turn the pages.
Footpaths in Tararua
Would you like to see the carpark extended?
Do you support the idea of Council acquiring land as an investment?
Consultation open from 14 April to 15 May 2025
Get your copy of the consultation document to learn more about the options proposed and make sure you have everything you need to make a submission and share your views.
Check out the Annual Plan 2025/26 consultation document here
Check out the Proposed Annual Plan 2025/26 here
Check out the Proposed Fees and Charges 2025/26 here
How to make a submission
- Make a submission using the online submission form (below)
- Download the fillable PDF, fill it in and email it to submissions@tararuadc.govt.nz
- Fill in a hardcopy form from one of our libraries or customer service centres and drop it in a box in person
- Fill in a hardcopy form and post it to us:
Annual Plan Consultation
FreePost 69367
PO Box 115, Dannevirke 4942
Please note NZ Post delivery timeframes.
FAQ
Annual plans are how we deliver our long-term plans (LTPs) year on year. They identify our budget and activities, the resources to deliver them and where the resources will come from, for example rates or user charges.
The Annual Plan Consultation aims to gather public feedback on the proposed activities, services, and budget changes for the 2025/26 financial year. It highlights key projects and any deviations from the Long Term Plan (LTP).
The Annual Plan is the community's plan - ultimately the Mayor and Councillors approve the final plan. The critical input into their decision making however is community feedback through consultation.
Councillors set a proposal(s) for the Annual Pan plan which then is provided to the public for consultation.
The consultation will lay out Council's proposal along with alternative options and the benefits, costs and risks of each. Councillors then review public feedback once it is in and make their final decision of what is or is not in the plan.
The rates increase is approximately 7.7%, down from the initially projected 11.30%.
While the overall rates increase is about 7.7%, more than half (57.83%) of the rates increase consist of water services costs. Here’s how much each part has increased on average:
- Drinking water – 48.01%
- Wastewater – 6.84%
- Stormwater – 2.98%
The remaining 42.17% of the rates comes from all other Council services (for example community facilities and services makes up 36.61%). On the other hand, significant savings have been made in other areas such as kerbside recycling – several cost saving measures have been put in place such as bringing this service in-house. The average rates for kerbside recycling has gone down by 19.63%.
We asked the public on their thoughts on footpath maintenance and renewals.
After our LTP was adopted, NZTA confirmed that the approved funding for footpaths was less than what Council had requested and budgeted for. As a result of this reduced funding, Council will not be able to maintain footpaths as before.
This means there will be a reduced cleaning schedule and only minor faults on footpaths will be addressed with a temporary dressing coat. We also won’t be able to carry out any major renewals to the footpaths.
We asked the public about whether we should compensate for the funding shortfall by funding it entirely through rates. This would allow us to continue doing priority maintenance work and address some of the repairs required to our footpaths.
Out of the 45 submissions received, 33 submitters stated that they would not like extra funding to be added to our rates. After Council deliberated, it has been decided that Council will allocate $150,000 from reserves to fund priority footpath renewals, addressing safety without increasing rates.
The Tararua Aquatic Community Trust (TACT) submitted a proposal to the Council to help solve an ongoing issue – parking at WaiSplash pool in Dannevirke. The pool is owned by the trust, but the land it sits on belongs to Council.
Council is considering options to resolve the lack of parking issue, including purchasing additional land to allow for a carpark extension.
Out of the 45 submissions received, 31 submitters supported the idea of the carpark being extended. 28 submitters also supported the idea of Council purchasing land as an investment for this.
Council will continue investigating purchasing land on York Street to support future carpark expansion at the Waisplash Community Aquatic Centre. Public support was strong, and the land would be funded from the General-Purpose Fund — not rates.
This document is anticipated to be available to the public from 25 June 2025.