Annual PlansNgā mahere ā-tau

Every three years – part way through each election term – council is required to develop and adopt a Long Term Plan. In the years between Long Term Plans, Annual Plans are produced that outline any changes to the budget. 

At the end of each year, an Annual Report and Summary Annual Report let the community know about what’s been achieved and how we have performed, as well as anything that hasn’t quite gone to plan or anything unexpected that's come up.

Consultation involves receiving and formally evaluating public feedback on proposals. Consultation is a particular approach to engagement.

The Council will consult with the community about significant decisions following principles in Section 82 of the Local Government Act. The Council can decide to consult at any time on a decision, where it considers this to be appropriate. For Council decisions, there is no express requirement to consult the public in a particular way, but we usually do so considering people’s views and preferences.

Engagement is a broad and ongoing process of sharing information with the community and gaining feedback, with the purpose of involving the community in the process of decision making. This may or may not include formal elements of a consultation process.

The Long Term Plan describes the community outcomes the council aims to achieve, and the activities it will fund, to achieve those outcomes over a ten year period.

The LTP describes these impacts in financial and non-financial terms, through financial statements and the resulting changes to rates and debt. The non-financial terms are mainly the performance measures relating to the levels of service. 

It’s important to remember that the LTP is a ten year forecast and the actual results may vary – these variances will be reflected in the Annual Report each year.