The Whanganui District Council's 2016-17 draft annual plan, with an overall rate rise of 4.5 per cent, will go out for public consultation this week.
But not every councillor gave it their blessing at Tuesday's council meeting. Rob Vinsen was one strident opponent when the council debated amendments to the original draft before voting to put the document out to the public.
Mr Vinsen was worried about the potential risk around costs for the new wastewater treatment plant, currently sitting at $41 million, because council had still to nail down agreement with industries as to how much they were prepared to pay to discharge waste into the system. He said not having that agreement finalised "places a very high risk" on the final costs.
But he failed to get support around the table to have the project put on hold until those agreements were signed off, with other councillors not prepared to stall the start of the treatment plant rebuild.
Councillor Martin Visser said council was talking with industries and more dialogue was needed, "but we can't delay the project any longer".