Long Term Plan 2024-2034

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We are pleased to share that our Long Term Plan for the next 10 years has now been finalised, locking in our Council’s budgets, projects and services over the coming decade. After careful consideration of the feedback we received from our communities, we’ve made crucial decisions to address the most pressing issues facing our district.

We had some tough calls to make...

Like many councils around Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re facing huge pressures from rising costs to a legacy of underinvestment in infrastructure. Looking locally, building a safe and resilient Coromandel means taking on even more challenges such as mitigating the effects of climate change and managing a vulnerable roading network.  Preparing this long term plan has involved addressing these challenges head on.

We’ve made a tough call to focus on the essentials and be realistic about what we can afford to deliver. We’re budgeting for core projects and services that meet community needs; as well as continuing our asset renewals programme, meeting increasing legislative and compliance requirements, and ensuring that we can maintain our current levels of service.

We’ve heard from you how important it is not to increase rates more than we absolutely have to, but there are some big, costly projects ahead that are critical for our communities’ well-being and can’t be deferred to the future. We believe budgeting for these is the responsible thing to do, and that’s why we’ve had to make the tough decision not to include many important, but optional, projects and requests.

The feedback we received

More than 300 people and organisations took the time to share their thoughts on our proposals. Many told us they supported the focus on the essentials approach and let us know our proposals were on the right track. We also received a lot of requests for more investment in a range of services. Our Council considered over 800 requests or points of feedback. All the written feedback we received is available to view below under More Information.

The key decisions we made

Key Decision One – Managing the rates spike

Crunching the numbers revealed a significant spike in rates for the first year of 20%. We asked whether we should we smooth the spike in rates that we’re forecasting.

OUR DECISION:

Our Council decided to proceed with its preferred option 2 – to spread the rates increases over two years.

By spreading the rates increase over two years, the average rates increase will be:

  • 13.2% in 2024/25 (an additional $509)
  • 7.7% in 2025/26 (an additional $339)
  • 7.7% in 2026/27 (an additional $361)

or an average increase of 4.9% over the next 10 years.

WHY WE MADE THIS DECISION:

Forty-eight per cent of those who provided feedback agreed with our proposal to spreading the rates increase over two years.

We think that spreading the rates increase over two years will strike a balance between spending what we need to maintain our services while reducing the immediate impact on ratepayers. We know if will still hurt the pocket, but it's a fiscally responsible way to do what we can to make rates payments more manageable for our communities.

Key Decision Two – Investing in future planning

We think its important that we don’t leave our communities’ futures to chance or entirely to the market.. We asked whether we should invest more money so we can proactively and strategically invest in planning programmes to manage growth effectively.

OUR DECISION:

Our Council decided to invest more in proactive planning.

By investing more in how we plan for the future of our district, we’ll:

  • develop a district-wide spatial plan project for areas outside of Thames (which has already has a plan)
  • making a series of changes to our district plan to include policies and rules that implement the direction of the Thames and Surrounds Spatial Plan.

WHY WE MADE THIS DECISION:

Fifty-four percent of those who provided feedback agreed with our proposal to invest more in proactive planning. Another 15% preferred to do this work but at a slower rate.

This work means we can better plan for necessary infrastructure investments and partner with other agencies and business sectors to deliver services like schools and medical facilities needed in future. It also means we can avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of natural hazards like flooding and coastal erosion.

Across all feedback, there was a strong emphasis on ensuring that any funds allocated to planning are spent wisely, with tangible outcomes that directly benefit the community.

There was also a recurring theme emphasising the importance of community involvement in planning processes to ensure that growth is managed in a way that aligns with the preferences and needs of local residents.

Key Decision Three – Investing in connected communities

In response to the 2023 weather events, we accessed Government recovery funding to establish a service to deliver joined-up, wrap-around support to people who need it. We asked what we can do going forward to ensure our people are connected and valued?

OUR DECISION:

Carry on the work we started through the cyclone recovery programme but we’ll be funding it ourselves through rates from July 2025 onwards.

The Council also requested that the focus of this work programme be on leveraging more external funding (such as government funding) to enable community-led development and enhance our credibility as a community facilitator.

WHY WE MADE THIS DECISION:

Forty-two percent of those who provided feedback agreed with our proposal to carry on our work. Another 21% wanted us to invest even more, while 24% preferred that we end our role.

We’ve seen the real benefits that our role in bringing various agencies together to target our local priorities, even though we don’t deliver the services directly. We want to continue this mahi to help our communities become more ready to respond to and recover from future disruptive events like storms.

A common thread across all the feedback we received was a call for more involvement and funding from central government. In response to your feedback we’ve decided to focus this work on leveraging more funding from other providers including the government.

Key Decision Four – Increasing fees and charges to keep rates manageable

We explored the possibility of increasing the fees we charge to people who use our services to keep up with our other rising costs, including inflation. We asked whether you agree with our proposal to increase our revenue from fees and charges by 3% overall.

OUR DECISION:

Yes, increase our revenue from fees and charges by 3% overall.

This decision means that a number of our fees have increased from 1 July 2024 for:

  • Airfield access
  • Building consents
  • Cemeteries
  • Dog control
  • Hall and sport centre use
  • Harbour facilities
  • Health licenses
  • Land information memoranda (LIMs)
  • Parking
  • Parks and reserves
  • Resource consents
  • Roading
  • Thames swimming pool
  • Utility connections
  • Water connection fees and usage.

View or download our 2024/25 Schedule of Fees and Charges here.

WHY WE MADE THIS DECISION:

Sixty-seven per cent of those who provided feedback agreed with our proposal.

Our costs are increasing significantly and we don’t think it's fair that ratepayers have to shoulder all the increases.

You’ve consistently told us that direct users including visitors should contribute to the cost of services they use and enjoy. While we acknowledge the impact of fee increases on low-income families and residents, we agree that increasing our fees and charges is the fairest way forward.

Key Decision Five – The future of the Thames Council building

We need to do something about our main Council offices in Thames - they don’t meet current health, safety and earthquake standards for staff and the visitors who them. We asked for your feedback on the options available to us.

OUR DECISION:

The Council considered and agreed to pause its decision on the future of the Thames office buildings until December 2024. This option was not one that we consulted upon back in March/April.

We decided that further investigation was needed on a leasehold arrangement where the Council would not build and own a new building on Council land, but would instead lease it. We will investigate a new site, including geotechnical and land contamination investigations and survey, as well as an independent assessment to understand the riss of remaining in the current building. This will cost $35,000. We’ve removed the cost of the building upgrade from our plan for now.

Staff have been requested to report back on the investigations by December 2024, if not earlier, and the Council has deferred its decision until then. Because we didn't consult with you on this option during the public feedback period, we will check back in with our communities before making a final decision.

WHY WE MADE THIS DECISION:

While majority of people (53%) supported our proposal to refurbish and upgrade the existing building, 31% selected 'don’t know' or 'other', providing alternative suggestions.

Some of your comments raised the possibility of a leasehold arrangement, where the costly repairs could be shouldered by a third party, and the buildings leased back to our Council.

After discussing our approach during our LTP deliberations, we decided to look into the option of lease arrangements, rather than ownership as proposed under the options we consulted on. 

Our staff are investigating this option, which will include an independent assessment to determine the safety risks of remaining in the buildings. A full report will be presented to our Council in December 2024.

Other key changes we made

Other changes we made

OUR LIBRARY SERVICES

We received a lot of feedback about the Tairua Heritage Centre project. We decided to further investigate this project and allocated $25,000 in 2024/25 to do this. We will look into the needs, feasibility, sustainability and funding of the centre. This investigation will be funded from local Tairua/Pauanui rates.

OUR PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

In our effort to find areas where we could reduce our spend, we decided to remove a project to investigate off-leash dog park facilities across the district. This saves us $21,000 in 2024/25.

OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

In our effort to find savings we removed a project to undertake a district-wide assessment of swimming safety. This saves us $31,000 in 2024/25.

DISTRICT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

We had proposed to review and update our heritage strategy which focusses on how we can protect our physical heritage. In our effort to find savings we removed this project. This saves us $21,000 in 2024/25. This won’t affect our review of how we support local heritage organisations through grants.

We were advised by our auditors that we need to carry out an annual survey of our customer satisfaction with our services. To do this in a way that meets our legal obligations, we need to outsource this work. As a result we’ve added a new budget of $60,000 per year to carry out the survey.

OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

In May we found out that our regional economic development agency, Te Waka, was to close down. Te Waka was established in 2018 to drive economic growth across the Waikato region. The Council had been making a financial contribution to Te Waka each year but this will no longer be required. As a result we’ve removed our budget of $35,000 each year.

At the same time we received a request to provide funding to Screen Waikato for continuing to help attract and capture film productions to the Thames-Coromandel area. As these services would no longer be delivered by Te Waka we decided to commit to providing a contribution of $15,000 to Screen Waikato each year.

In our effort to find savings we removed a project to look into how we might establish a ‘blue highway’ of sea and air transport. This project was identified when we developed our recovery plan after Cyclone Gabrielle and other summer weather events. The removal of the project saves us $41,000 in 2024/25.

TŌTARA VALLEY UPGRADE

Our initial proposals included a number of infrastructure projects so that we could service future subdivision in the Tōtara Valley. We’ve reprogrammed these projects. The roading upgrade and water, wastewater and stormwater extensions will all start in 2024/25 and be finished by the end of June 2028. We’ll be investing $11.5 million in the road upgrade, $1.87 million in stormwater management, $0.8 million in water supply and $0.5 million in wastewater.

OUR ROADING NETWORK

We added an additional $1.3 million to our 2024/25 work programme for the stabilisation of the slip at Thornton Bay. This project is fully funded by the Government and the only cost to our ratepayers will be the ongoing funding needed to keep it maintained.

Earlier in the year we reviewed how we deliver our roading services to ensure our model is fit for purpose and efficient. As a result of this review we decided to establish a collaborative steering group and one staff position to improve the way we deliver our services. This added $169,000 to each year of our budget.

OUR WASTEWATER SERVICES

We received feedback on extending our wastewater services in Hāhei and Wharekaho. We believe that we need to consult with the people in those communities before committing to what is high cost work. We’ve added budget so that we can further explore these two initiatives. This will involve determining the scope of work that is required in both communities and the costs and potential charges for residents to join an extended network. Residents’ will then be asked how willing they are to proceed with the extensions.

In Hāhei, this will happen in 2024/25. If residents do wish to proceed the work would start in 2027/28 and be finished in 2033/34.

In Wharekaho this will happen in 2024/25 and 2025/26. If residents do wish to proceed the work would start in 2026/27 and be finished in 2029/30.

We’ve also rephased a project to address Pāuanui wastewater odour. This will be completed in the 2024/25 year.

OUR WATER SUPPLY SERVICES

We’re also looking into extending our water supply in Hāhei and Wharekaho. Like the potential wastewater extension, we’ve planned to also consult with those two communities about their willingness to pay for the extension of the network.

In Hāhei this will happen over 2025/26 and 2026/27. If we decide to proceed, the work would start in 2027/28 and be finished in 2031/32.

In Wharekaho this will happen in 2024/25. If residents do wish to proceed the work would start in 2026/27 and be finished in 2029/30.

We also decided to bring forward our water metering programme across the district. Instead of starting in 2027/28, we’ll now be starting in 2025/26.

RUBBISH AND RECYCLING SERVICES

We’d already planned to replace the Whitianga Transfer Station between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2026, but the estimated costs have risen so we’ve increased our budget by another $2.2 million.

LOCAL SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Our community boards manage two community grants programmes – one is a contestable fund and the other they can allocate at their discretion. We’ve increased the amount of the discretionary grant fund from $20,000 to $30,000 each year.

The Thames Community Board requested another year of funding to finish its town promotional project. We’ve added $43,000 to the budget for one year (2024/25) which will be funded by Thames ratepayers.

GOVERNANCE

We’ve asked the Chief Executive to investigate the changes we need to make within the organisation to be prepared for the pending Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) settlements. We’ll consider the actions we need to take when we’re revising our next year’s budget.

We’ve included two new items for ‘behind the scenes’ work to ensure that our organisation is running smoothly and effectively. We’ve added $100,000 in 2024/25 to progress work that we’ve asked of our Cheif Executive but this won’t add to the rates. We’ve also added $80,000 in 2024/25 for an organisational benchmarking exercise to check whether our level of staffing is fit for purpose.

Checking out your rates for the 2024/25 financial year

Our rates will increase slightly more than we originally proposed over the next 10 years. On average, the rates increase for the first financial year of our plan (2024/25) has increased to 13.2 per cent from the 12.9 per cent we proposed in our consultation document. This increase will vary, depending on where you live, the type and value of your property, and the services you receive.

From about 18 July onwards, you’ll be able to visit our website and check your individual property rates using your property address, on our Online Rating Information Database.

We realise that many will already be facing rising household costs, and we know the rates increase will incur another cost for ratepayers, but we’ve not taken the decision to increase the rates lightly. Planning for the big projects ahead comes at a significant cost, and we believe it’s the right thing to do. Some households may be eligible for a Government rates rebate - essentially a discount on rates for those who qualify. We encourage those households on low incomes to find out more about this option at tcdc.govt.nz/ratesrebate or call our customer service team on 07 868 0200. 

Some of the works projects we plan to deliver

The largest portion of spending on physical works (known as capex) has been provided for roading, with $245.4 million budgeted over the next 10 years to repair and improve our roads. We’ve also budgeted $92.7 million coastal protection works around the district over the coming decade. To date, we’ve spent a lot on major infrastructure projects on the Eastern Seaboard and in the next 10 years we will see a greater focus on the Western Seaboard. You can view all the works projects we've committed to deliver in Part 2 of the 2024-2034 Long Term Plan, where they are divided into 'activity' groupings. 

Click here to see some of the works projects ahead for our communities

  • Whangamatā Stormwater improvement: $9.2 million from 2024/25 to 2029/30.
  • Whangamatā Hetherington Road Rising Main: $2.5 million from 2024/25 to 2029/30
  • Whitianga Refuse Station: $11.5 million from 2024/25 to 2025/26.
  • Whitianga Esplanade waterfront redevelopment: $12.5 million from 2027/28 to 2029/30.
  • Pāuanui additional treated water reservoir: $1.6 million from 2027/28 to 2029/30.
  • Pāuanui wastewater treatment plant odour control: $2 million in 2024/25.
  • Tairua Esplanade renewal: $259,000 in 2027/28.
  • Hāhei wastewater extension: $3.3 million from 2027/28 to 2033/34.
  • Matarangi Treatment Plant upgrade: $22 million from 2024/25 to 2030/31.
  • Coromandel Wharf renewal: $5.3 million in 2028/29.
  • Coromandel Bypass: $37.2 million from 2026/27 to 2028/29. This is fully funded by Crown Infrastructure.
  • Thames coastal protection: $78.2 million from 2027/28 to 2030/31. Funding is still being tied down for this project, and we’ll focus on seeking funding from external sources.
  • Thames South water improvements and Pūriri water treatment plant: $19.5 million from 2024/25 to 2027/28.
  • Thames Aquatic Facility: $39.9 million from 2024/25 to 2028/29.

Fees and Charges

As part of the LTP process, we updated our 2024/25 Schedule of Fees and Charges. One of the key decisions we made as a result of public feedback was to increase our fees and charges by 3% overall. This decision means that a number of our fees increased from 1 July 2024 for:

  • Airfield access
  • Building consents
  • Cemeteries
  • Dog control
  • Hall and sport centre use
  • Harbour facilities
  • Health licenses
  • Land information memoranda (LIMs)
  • Parking
  • Parks and reserves
  • Resource consents
  • Roading
  • Thames swimming pool
  • Utility connections
  • Water connection fees and usage.

Boat ramp and Wharf facilities fees

From 1 July, boat ramp pass fees also increased $2 per day for boat launching only, and $3 per day for the Boat Launching and Parking combo. The Annual Pass Boat launching only pass fee increased to $50. There is no change to the Annual Pass Boat launching and parking combo rate of $115 per year.

More information 

View our previous updates

LTP-2024-34.png

Our formal consultation for our Long Term Plan (LTP) proposals closed on Monday 8 April. You can still view this page here.

We've prepared our draft long term plans and budgets for 2024-2034 and beyond, and from 8 March to 8 April we asked for your take on our proposals. There are some big challenges ahead for the Coromandel and we wanted to hear your thoughts on how we tackle them.

We received 349 items of written feedback during the consultation period - 235 of these were from individuals; 113 were made on behalf of organisations.You can see the written feedback we received here: 2024-34 Long Term Plan - Hearing Pack.

People who asked to present their views in person to our elected members were able to speak to their responses at our hearings meetings held on 1 and 2 May 2024. 

You can still read our consultation document ‘Tackling the Future Head on: What’s your take?’ It sets out the key things you need to know, including our long-term proposals and budget forecasts for the next 10 years and beyond. If you still have questions, check out the ‘Supporting information’ section below for more in-depth information, and be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions document.

What's next for our LTP? 

  • LTP budgets are currently being revised to determine any impact on the rates and to set the final rates for the 2024/25 financial year
  • Our draft LTP began its formal, independent audit process on 6 June 2024. any revisions resulting from the audit process will be taken into account prior to adopting the Plan
  • Our final LTP is scheduled to be adopted on 27 June
  • After the Plan is adopted, we’ll share the final LTP document and key decisions on this website page.

What happened at our LTP deliberations?

Our elected members met over 21 May and 22 May to deliberate on public feedback from our Long Term Plan (LTP) formal consultation period.   

Our Councillors and Mayor Len Salt made some final decisions on the five key issues we consulted on as they sought to balance keeping rates affordable and including some of the key works projects that our communities asked for.

What was decided?

  • Key Decision 1 – Managing the rates spike: Our Council decided to proceed with its preferred option 2 – to spread the rates increases over two years.  
  • Key Decision 2 – Investing in future planning: Our Council decided to proceed with its preferred option 1 – to invest more in proactive planning for the future.  
  • Key Decision 3 – Investing in Connected Communities: Our Council decided to proceed with its preferred option 2 – to carry on the work it started through the cyclone recovery programme but funding it ourselves through rates from year 2 (July 2025 onwards). We also resolved that staff should focus on securing more external funding to enable community-led development and to enhance Council’s role as a community facilitator.  
  • Key Decision 4 – Increasing fees and charges to keep rates manageable: Our Council decided to proceed with its preferred option 1 – to increase its revenue from fees and charges by 3 per cent overall.  
  • Key Decision 5 – The future of the Thames Council buildings: Our Council decided to do further investigation on a leasehold arrangement as a result of public feedback our Council received from the LTP consultation. This option wasn’t included in the proposals for our consultation document, Tackling the Future Heads On: What’s Your Take? Our Council will investigate a new site for the Thames council offices, including an independent assessment, to understand the risks of remaining in the current buildings. Staff will report back on their investigations by December 2024 and a final decision on the future of our Thames Council offices will be deferred until then. 

Other key highlights

  • In respect of key decision 5, option 1, our Council resolved to investigate a new site for the Thames council offices, including an independent assessment, to understand the risks of remaining in the current buildings. Staff will report back on their investigations by December 2024 and a final decision on the future of our Thames Council offices will be deferred until then. 

  • An additional $1.3 million of capital expenditure was included in the LTP Roading activity budget for Year 1 (2024/25) for the Thornton Bay Slip stabilisation project. The work is 100% funded as a storm recovery project, but our Council will need to include funding for depreciation costs in its budgets.  

  • Additional operational budget was included in the LTP wastewater and water supply activities in Year 1 (2024/25) and Year 2 (2025/26) to carry out community consultation in relation to the extension of the Wharakeho and Hahei wastewater and water supply networks. 

  • An additional $2,173,617 of capital expenditure was included in the LTP Rubbish and Recycling activity over the next two years to provide for the replacement of the current Whitianga Refuse and Recycling Transfer Station. 

Stay up to date: 

What is a LTP?

The LTP is a key planning document that we develop every three years. It outlines all the things our Council does and how they fit together. It contains the strategic direction for Council’s finances and infrastructure, identifies what projects we plan to do over the next 10 years and beyond, and what we estimate it will cost to pay for them. The Plan also sets the rates for the 2024/24 financial year, and forecasts indicative rates for the coming decade.

As a Council, we've asked for the participation and feedback of our staff, elected members, iwi and other partners including government agencies, ratepayers and local communities, as we continue to move through the process of developing our final LTP, which we'll be adopting in late June. 

What are the challenges ahead?

Like many councils around Aotearoa New Zealand, we’ve got some big challenges ahead, but we’re tackling them head on:

  • A large roading repair and improvement programme to fix damage done by last year’s cyclones
  • Costly coastal protection works to mitigate the impact of rising sea levels
  • Ageing infrastructure (like water treatment plants) that must be replaced
  • The rising cost of living and high inflation
  • Higher government compliance standards that cost more to meet
  • A shortage of affordable housing.

If you'd like to know more, watch our Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie and Mayor Len Salt as they discuss some of the key issues impacting our planning for facilities and services.

What are our main priorities for this LTP? 

We’re prioritising the resilience of our district in our budgets and planning. We’re focusing on building strong foundations to continue the recovery from the extreme weather events of last year, and building resilience into the infrastructure and facilities our Council provides, and enabling recovery and resilience within our communities. We've made some provision in our proposed long-term budgets for roading repairs and improvements, moderating the effects of climate change, helping our communities to become more resilient, and managing our economic growth.

How did we use your LTP consultation feedback?

While we are required by law to indicate a preferred option for the big issues that we’re asking for feedback on, we do have flexibility to consider changes based on your feedback. All the feedback you provided during the LTP consultation period was noted by our teams, and considered during the LTP deliberations on 21 and 22 May. Your feedback helped to inform the final decisions our elected members made about our LTP, which is scheduled to be adopted on 27 June. As part of an open and transparent consultation process, all feedback is treated as public once received.

Supporting information

• Long Term Plan Consultation Document 2024(PDF, 4MB)

• FAQ for Long Term Plan and Consultation(PDF, 205KB)

• Draft development contributions policy(PDF, 4MB)

• Draft financial strategy(PDF, 808KB)

• Draft infrastructure strategy(PDF, 3MB)

• Draft remission and postponement of rates on Māori freehold land policy(PDF, 442KB)

• Draft revenue and financing policy(PDF, 366KB)  

• Financial statements(PDF, 901KB)

• Our activities & performance framework(PDF, 473KB)  

• Our capital expenditure project lists by activity(PDF, 700KB)

• Our forecasting assumptions(PDF, 722KB)

• Schedule of fees and charges(PDF, 1MB)

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