Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst: On the district’s Long-Term Plan

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst. Photo / Paul Taylor

OPINION

We are proud that over the past few years, we have partnered with our community, Māori iwi and the Government to invest in award-winning culture and heritage buildings.

This includes the groundbreaking safe and sustainable Waiaroha drinking water, water storage and water education centre, and our Hastings “Place-Based Housing” plan to deliver homes for our people.

These areas remain a priority as we look to the future and continue building on the positive momentum in Heretaunga Hastings.

This year’s draft Long-Term Plan 2024-2034 for Hastings District Council reflects the huge and growing challenges the local government is facing in affording the infrastructure and services it provides.

We are currently consulting on our plan, and like other councils in Hawke’s Bay and around the country, we are contending with very tough financial conditions.

Our council is very aware the 25 per cent rate increase we are proposing for 2024 to 2025 is just another pressure we are putting on our residents, who are facing rising costs of living across the board.

I have appreciated being out in the community, sharing our plans and hearing from our people.

The reality is we currently have no other funding options to build and maintain sustainable infrastructure and pay increased interest and debt funding costs for past projects (such as our extensive drinking water upgrade).

In Hastings, this situation is even more challenging considering the additional expense of recovering and building back from Cyclone Gabrielle - 8 per cent of this year’s proposed rate increase is directly to fund the cyclone recovery, mostly rebuilding our transport network.

Identifying the priorities and rebuilding and improving roads and bridges is essential for the economic and social wellbeing of our district.

Our primary sector is the engine room of our economy, and good-quality infrastructure is vital to supporting industry and employment opportunities.

Infrastructure Commission figures show in the past three years, it’s become 38 per cent more costly to build bridges, 27 per cent more expensive to build roads and water supply systems, and 30 per cent more expensive to build sewerage systems.

We’re acutely aware of the financial pressures our community faces from other areas. The cost of living has increased significantly in the past two to three years, and this is making it really tough on household budgets, particularly for those on fixed incomes.

This is why we focus on investing in essential infrastructure needs, not the nice-to-haves.

Consultation on our plan closes at 5pm on Monday, May 27, and we want to hear what you think. Please go to www.myvoicemychoice.co.nz to learn more and let us know your views.