The Otago Regional Council has formally adopted its proposed Long-Term Plan today – its cornerstone document for the next 10 years.

ORC Chair Gretchen Robertson says the LTP has a “significant focus” on public transport, large-scale environmental project funding and how rates are calculated.

“The proposed rates increase was necessary to fund many initiatives over the next decade, focussed on six key areas of partnership, communities, environment, resilience, climate, and public transport, because each is crucial for shaping ORC’s future work. Public feedback helped shape our investment priorities.”

In a full Council meeting in Dunedin today, Councillors voted 9-3 to adopt the Long-Term Plan (LTP). 

The ORC’s LTP was prepared in consultation with communities across Otago at meetings and at online forums, attracting more than 400 submissions, with more than 50 people and organizations attending two days of public hearings in May.

In the LTP, the changes to average rates will see increases of 16.3% in 2024/25, 13.8% in 2025/26 and 8.7% in 2026/27.

The rates increases were driven by the need to pay back historic transport deficits arising from increased costs in response to Covid related challenges, general increases in the cost of delivering public transport services to Otago’s communities, inflation impacting all Council spending and an increase in the amount of funding for environmental projects, which will commence from year 2 of the LTP.

Cr Robertson says 10 different rates were considered for changes so that rates can be “more fairly applied”, to have a more workable, transparent, and understandable process.

“The changes won’t impact on the current level of services we’re providing, it’s about how the work programmes are funded and who pays for them,” she says.

This all contributes toward a healthy and connected environment and communities ki uta ki tai - from the mountains to the sea, she says.

Cr Robertson says community input “deeply influenced” the Council’s decisions, following events and submissions from across Otago which provided invaluable feedback, especially around the current cost of living pressures facing our communities and to our applying fairness across the rating system.

“We appreciated the community’s engagement and following that feedback, we’ve made changes to some proposals while others will proceed as planned. In areas like flood and drainage schemes, we’ll undertake further work to better understand the impacts of rating changes more comprehensively,” she says.

“A significant highlight of our plan which many ratepayers backed is new [$2m] funding for large-scale environmental projects supporting community-led environmental work across Otago, focussed on on-the-ground environmental enhancement and fostering strong, connected communities,” she says.

Public transport is also central to ORC’s strategy, with the need to improve public transport in Dunedin and Queenstown and by exploring the possibility of new services for Ōamaru, Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, Balclutha, and Wānaka, she says.

“Enhancing public transport connects communities by providing reliable and affordable options and helps preserve our environment by reducing emissions and congestion.”

“Our focus is to build the foundation for a strong, resilient future for Otago, ensuring our communities can thrive amid opportunities and also challenges. Central to this is connectivity - linking people and their communities to the unique environments which make Otago such a vibrant, productive and resilient region,” Cr Robertson says.

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