Masterton Council Opts To ‘Engage’ On Plan, Not Consult

Friday, 21 February 2025, 8:22 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

A majority of Masterton’s councillors have agreed to engage on its upcoming annual plan instead of consulting.

The exercise would not come without its challenges, with councillor David Holmes stressing it was crucial to meet with rural ratepayers to explain why they were facing an average rates increase of 12.7% compared to their urban counterparts’ 6.2%.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Holmes said he had received “a lot of calls” about the rural rates increase and he was concerned about the impact the increase would have on those ratepayers.

He suggested the council go out to Tinui to engage with residents and explain the driver behind the increase was roading costs.

The council’s revenue and financing policy allocated a greater share of the rates required for roading to the rural area to reflect that that was where about 70% of the money was spent.

Deputy Mayor Bex Johnson said it was important to also indicate to rural residents that the council was exploring the option of a forestry levy for the future.

While most councillors spoke in favour of engaging with the community instead of consulting, councillor Tim Nelson said the process would result in “maybe getting some crumbs of feedback that don’t essentially come back to council in any form whatsoever”.

A council report said there was no legal requirement to consult because the annual plan was not materially different to Year 2 of the Long-Term Plan which was consulted on last year.

The report also cited “consultation fatigue and confusion” as a reason against consulting which Nelson said was “absolutely patronising”.

“We are underestimating the ability of our community to make decisions, to take information and tell us what they think about it,” he said.

“Again, we are just telling them what is best for them.”

Mayor Gary Caffell said the council could “get through to the community and hear the community better through the engagement process, providing we do it right”.

Nelson and councillor Tom Hullena voted against the engagement option on the Annual Plan.

Following Wednesday’s decision, work has begun on the engagement programme and information document.

Council was set to adopt the 2025/26 Annual Plan at its meeting on June 25.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.