Long-Term Plan 2024-34

Following 35-plus face-to-face meetings and virtual engagement opportunities during the consultation period alone, a record 1,441 submissions were received and considered by elected members. 

Elected members have also confirmed our vision: Small city benefits, big city ambition and our Oranga Papaioea City Strategy, which encompasses our four goals and associated plans for achieving our vision and strategy.  

Mayor Grant Smith said the public feedback helped shape the final plan.  

“We’ve been thrilled to see such a large amount of people getting involved in our long-term plan and having their say, including many first timers. Whether it was a formal submission, on our Facebook live, during public engagement sessions, drawings, poems, videos, public meetings, face-to-face or over email, it was just fabulous to see people having their say on the future of our city. This feedback was crucial in helping elected members make decisions on the final plan. Our plan shows we have listened to our community and made decisions that reflect their concerns.” 

Read the submissions

Trying to plan for ten years is hard at the best of times.

Looking back at the last decade, we’d never have expected (and certainly didn’t plan for) a global pandemic, soaring inflation and interest rates, supply shortages, and much more. Some of these things continue to impact how we plan for our city for the next decade, plus we need to factor in new legal requirements for waters, growth and seismic upgrades to our facilities. A change in government will also see some changes for our work, especially in the water area.

Our draft long-term plan is a balance between meeting all of the new legal requirements, maintaining our infrastructure, and continuing to look after the needs of our community. Striking that balance has seen months of work, going over every expense and project. We’re keen to hear if you think we’ve got that right.

This is the blueprint for ensuring our city is a great place to live, visit, and do business over the next ten years and for future generations. It's a roadmap that outlines the services, projects, and priorities aimed at taking care of our city and community. It helps us determine what work we need to do, when, how much it will cost, the funding required, and what that means, ultimately for rates over the coming years.

By far the biggest challenge we have in front of us is a financial one, and we'll now need to look at more external funding including exploring new types of funding, to ensure we can afford to do the work we’re required to do. Our consultation document and this website outlines that, and the impact for you, in detail.

We also want your feedback on a few key topics too, like expanding or creating new community facilities, whether we change our entire rating system, and our plan of attack for seismic upgrades for our Central Library and Te Manawa museum.

There’s a lot to read – but we are here to help answer every question you have and hear your ideas, any concerns, and feedback.

We’re listening

Please make sure your voice is heard as we shape the future of the city that we’re all so proud to call home.

Draft Long-Term Plan 2023-34(PDF, 16MB)