2024-2034 Long-term Plan: Our Roadmap, Our People

16 May 2024: Post deliberations update

We received 451 submissions to our Long-term plan consultation, many of whom spoke directly to Councillors at hearings held across 11 and 12 April. Councillors deliberated on 14 May considering the key consultation issues, as well as deciding on a number of changes to the proposed draft.

Elderly Housing, Councillors agreed on option 1, to provide $7.7 million from rates to replace Elderly Persons' Housing units faster.

Carbon Emissions Reduction, Councillors agreed on option 1 with a funding reduction, Allocating $100,000 a year for Council to use to implement carbon emission reduction.

Glass Recycling, Councillors heard that neither of the proposed options was what our community wanted, and agreed to retain the current recycling system for the remainder of the existing contract term (3 years) and request that WasteNet review options for separate glass recycling.

Our community voiced concern about the rising cost of living, with that in mind, Councillors were committed to keeping average rate increases below 10%. To meet this goal, councillors decided to defer the planned painting of the Doon Street water reservoir, not to extend the bus services at the start and end of the day, reduce the proposed funding increase to Great South from $145,000 to $75,000, halt further maintenance work on Rugby Park Stadium from 2025, reduce the proposed increase to the Heritage Strategy Fund to $20,000 (resulting in a total fund of $200,000). Residents can expect an average increase of 9.8% following the adoption of the plan.

The community also voiced considerable concern about the perceived lack of pride in our city since the Low Mow Pilot was introduced, and while the pilot has been successful, with a significant cost saving since it was introduced, Councillors have considered the feedback and decided to halt the pilot from the end of June 2024.

We are now preparing the revised plan, which will be presented to Councillors for adoption on 25 June. You can find more information about the Councillor's decisions here.

29 February 2024: We want your feedback on our roadmap for our people

Council are focused on creating a vibrant city that offers quality services to our people. We want everyone to who lives here proud to call our city their home. Councillors and Mana Whenua Representatives have spent the previous 18 months developing our proposals for the 2024-2034 Long-term plan and now we’d like your feedback.

We are proud to present our updated Roadmap to Renewal. We have delivered on some large projects already, and more are underway. As we plan for the future, alongside our roadmap we are also considering a new home for arts in the city, where to house the sports of the future, safe swimming options in Bluff and what improvements are needed at Elizabeth Park. Setting aside funds for the key infrastructure projects on our roadmap, as well as these exciting projects that we know are important to our residents, will create a legacy that we can be proud of for generations to come. At the same time we need to ensure our core infrastructure, including three waters, is resilient for the future.

Check out the consultation document to find out more about the Long-term plan and the issues we want your feedback on. Feel free to share feedback on other ideas and concerns you have for the future of the city. We want to hear what’s important to you.

If you’re interested in a particular area of Council services, check out the Activity plans under the Documents section – We have laid these out so you can either read the full plan or the summary highlights.

Want more information about how we are going to deliver the infrastructure the city needs or how we plan to manage the money? Have a read of the Infrastructure Strategy or Financial Strategy.

Find out the forecast rates for your property by using our proposed rates tool.

Have a question about something else? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions, where we may have already answered it for you, or email us at policy@icc.govt.nz.

Come and chat with your Councillors and Mana Whenua Representatives. We’ll be out and about in Invercargill and Bluff throughout March and look forward to seeing you at the Council hearings in April.

We’re trying out some new things this time to make it easier to take part.

If you want to take part in hearings, you can choose whether to have a traditional ten-minute hearing slot or take part in a roundtable discussion style hearing.

We’re also accepting video submissions for the first time. Please read the instructions carefully as we are not able to edit video submissions.

Submissions are due by 2 April. Yes, we know its Southland Anniversary Day - we’ve left it open a few days extra to give people as long as possible to share your views!

We’ve worked hard together on this plan and we’re looking forward to hearing what you think.

Mayor Nobby Clark and team.