Representatives from the horticultural and agricultural industries, commerce and economic development, the health sector, tangata whenua and community leaders attended a workshop late last month as part of the development of Council’s draft Long Term Plan (2012-2022).

The stakeholders’ meeting was part of a process to develop a draft Long Term Plan 2012-2022, which will be published for community-wide consultation in April 2012.

At the workshop, facilitated by Mayor Ross Paterson and Councillor Gwenda Merriman, Council was keen to hear about the issues that it should address in the short and longer term in order to make a difference to the various organisations, sector and community groups in the Western Bay.

Addressing the meeting Mayor Paterson said Council faced a financial situation never before experienced.

“With the recession showing little sign of relief, Council continues to experience reduced income and rising interest costs on debt as a consequence of slowed subdivision and stalled development,” said Ross.

“Added to these challenges the Western Bay is facing the increasing incursion of PSA-V that is threatening the region’s vast horticultural sector – the impact of which is still not quantified but extremely disturbing.

“Inevitably the District’s economy will be adversely affected for several years and this will filter through to growers, the post-harvest sector, contractors, employees, commercial and industrial suppliers and the retail sectors.’’

He said the main aim of Council was to continue providing those essential services and infrastructure that are prerequisites for economic growth.

Council must also ensure that physical assets are not run down and that human assets such as a skilled workforce are retained at appropriate levels to maintain services and respond when growth returns.

Stakeholders shared many concerns at the meeting.

Kiwifruit representatives voiced growers’ fears about the fallout from PSA on land values and the inability of kiwifruit growers to remain viable.

Post-harvest sector representatives expressed their concerns about any land use changes and the resultant financial impact of keeping fruit processing infrastructure in place.

Development sector representatives questioned the veracity of Council’s population growth forecasts.

Council chief executive Glenn Snelgrove explained that Council’s revised growth forecasts were conservative in light of the continued recession.

In the District’s heyday (2007) growth was 1.8-2% per annum and this has been revised back to 0.8% to 1% per annum until 2016.

“The purpose of the 10-year plan is to look at the first three years and then provide strategies to address the longer term issues. Growth drives a part of Council’s revenue and we have to figure out how to fund the gaps going forward,” said Glenn.

“We believe growth will increase in 2016. The recession will have been in place for eight years – we think that is quite pessimistic but we do not believe growth will be back to 2007 levels until after 2022.”

The development sector also raised concerns of the impact of slowed growth on marketing and selling residential land.

The cost of getting residential land into sections, onto the market and sold was increasingly difficult in the current situation and the ongoing costs associated with unsold sections, such as rates, was unviable, particularly as it was likely that many of those sections would remain unsold for several years.

Health sector representatives reminded Council that, while new subdivision development was a revenue priority for Council, it must not neglect its role in shaping the region for the impact of the ageing population.

The increasingly high percentage of older people would have an impact on the affordability of rates and on the type of housing and on access to social and health services, therefore collaboration between Council and the relevant agencies was extremely important.

Council will meet later this month for further discussion on the Plan to consider more areas where capital expenditure can be reduced and in some cases where projects may be moved outside of the Plan’s timeframe.

In March 2012 the final draft will be adopted and submissions called for.

The draft Long Term Plan will go out for public consultation in April 2012 and Council will hold meetings in each community during that month.

Hearings will be held in May and Council intends the final Long Term Plan to be adopted at the end of June 2012.