Winning national awards, the highest number of new homes consented in more than 40 years, major renovations to flagship community facilities, and innovative road safety initiatives headline Hamilton City Council’s performance in its last financial year.

The 2018/19 Annual Report was signed off today (Thursday 26 September) by the Council at its final meeting before the election on 12 October.

Chief Executive Richard Briggs says a video created to celebrate some of the success shows it’s been a busy 12 months in Hamilton.

“From nationally recognised venues and facilities, to revolutionary road safety improvements and smashing a decades-old record for new home consents, Hamilton is buzzing!”

The Annual Report reviews the Council’s financial position, as well as how it has delivered on 50 community services set out in the 2018-28 10-Year Plan.

The report reveals positive outcomes for the Council’s net debt levels, debt-to-revenue ratio, and balancing the books result.

The community services targets include measures of visitor numbers to community facilities, access to parks and open spaces, quality of drinking water, and response times to customer requests.

Of the 50 targets, 36 were met and four were new measures to establish baselines.

Work carried out across the city also included:

Replacing more than six kilometres of water pipes.
Consenting 1552 new homes, the most since 1974.
Removing 99% of graffiti within two working days.
Responding to 98% of urgent requests for dog control in under an hour.
Keeping 18M kilograms of waste collected out of landfill.
Plans are in place to address the 10 targets not met and improve processes across the Council.

In addition to those measures, July 2018 to June 2019 saw a number of milestones and achievements for the city, including:

FMG Stadium Waikato won New Zealand’s Best Event Venue.
Hare Puke Park was named New Zealand’s Playground of the Year.
A record crowd helped Hamilton Zoo celebrate its 50th birthday.
Hamilton Gardens opened the new Mansfield Garden.
The safety improvements at Thomas Rd and Gordonton Rd were completed, including the first raised safety platform in New Zealand.
The design principles for the new Peacocke bridge were approved.
New playgrounds at Hillcrest Stadium and Mangaiti Park were opened.
Seddon Park was named NZ Cricket Pitch of the Year.
“This is an epic time for both the Council and our awesome city,” says Mr Briggs.

“The Annual Report and the other accolades Hamilton has earned since July last year show this truly is the best place in New Zealand to live, work, play and visit.”

The final Annual Report will be available on the Council’s website early next week.

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