Other topics of interest

Asset value inflation and depreciation

Councils have more than a billion dollars’ worth of community assets - like our roads, Three Waters assets, Libraries, Pools, and other community facilities.

One of Council’s responsibilities to ensure that these assets are managed so that the community continues to receive consistent levels of service. Residents should expect that community assets are replaced when damaged and remain in working order.

Assets have long life cycles (sometimes over 100 years), and one of the indicators of whether the Council is reinvesting enough into our asset base is through how much money we put aside for depreciation.

Funding depreciation involves putting aside the amount an asset loses in value each year, into a fund which used to replace this asset once it has finished its life cycle.

In recent years asset values have inflated as significantly higher levels than expected. As such we need to also inflate the amount we put aside to fund depreciation.

For example, recent asset revaluations include:

• Roading assets at 30 June 2023 showed an increase in a depreciable replacement cost by 6.6% or $64m and annual depreciation by 9.9% or $1.2m since the previous revaluation in 2022
• The Three Waters revaluation in 2022 showed an increase in asset value by 26% or $158m, and annual depreciation by 23% or $2.7m since the revaluation in 2020
• The Community Facilities revaluation in 2022 showed an increase by 18% or $14.5m, and annual depreciation by 38% or $0.8m since the revaluation in 2020.

For our depreciation to keep pace with inflating values this would require an additional 5.9% increase or $5.1m to rates in 2024/25.

Instead, the Council has opted for a strategy that will gradually increase the amount put aside to fund depreciation over five years to smooth out any dramatic shifts in rate increases.

As a result, our depreciation is not fully funded in the initial years of the LTP. However, this strategy will make rating increases more affordable to our community.

Climate change and sustainability

In late 2020, the Council adopted a Climate Change Policy to ensure we’re able to respond to climate change challenges appropriately.

A report from NIWA showed that Waimakariri can expect more frequent heavy rainfall, as well as more frequent and prolonged droughts due to temperature increases. There will also be some changes seen in our coastal areas due to sea levels rising.

The Council is incorporating our response to climate change and sustainability into our daily work programmes.

In the past few years, we have:

• Incorporated climate change considerations into our standard reporting template. This means every Council decision must look at its impact on climate change.
• Created a criteria so decisions that affect climate change mitigation and adaptation trigger our Significance and Engagement Policy
• Our procurement policy considers sustainable practices and solutions.
• Adopted an Integrated Transport Strategy that puts emphasis on alternative modes of transport and public transport infrastructure.
• We’ve focused on Civil Defence education so residents are aware of the actions they can take to protect their homes in the face of more extreme weather.
• We also maintain a significant amount of public land, parks and street trees that produce oxygen. This includes significant parks such as Tūhaitara Coastal Park and Matawai Park that hold thousands of native trees that sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

Going forward, as part of the LTP:

• We are carrying out a risk assessment to see what land and infrastructure is most at risk from coastal inundation, flooding, and other impacts, and are working with the community to identify options for reducing this risk. This will form the basis of a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and be incorporated and considered as part of our Infrastructure Strategy.
• Establishing a permanent flood recovery and infrastructure resilience team to maintain and improve our drainage network. This will reduce known flooding issues and provide more resilient infrastructure – keeping residents and property safe.
• We have purchased property with significant potential for ecological and recreational development between Kaiapoi and Rangiora. It is hoped a proportion of the land could be retired from commercial operation and reverted to ephemeral wetland. This is one of the projects proposed as part of the Natural Environment Strategy.
• When updating our vehicle fleet (the main source of Council emissions) we are opting for low-emission vehicles that still meet the needs of a semirural district
• In the years ahead the Council, as part of the Canterbury Mayoral Forum, is developing a collective climate action plan—as the effects of climate change don’t stop at our District’s boundaries. This is a collaborative approach that will align actions of the 11 councils in Canterbury so we’re working together to combat climate change.
• The Council is also supporting Environment Canterbury (ECan) in their request to central government to fund flood mitigation investment. This will likely take the form of riverway and stop bank improvements that will improve the flood resilience of our low-lying District.

Council’s 2022 Customer Satisfaction Survey showed more than 70 percent of respondents said it was important that the Council be active in responding to climate change. Council also received feedback in the survey calling for more green areas, larger parks, and recreational areas.

Residents said they wanted council to show leadership by prioritising climate change, sustainability, and environmental protection.

While there is lots of mahi to do we believe we are heading in the right direction.

Central Government reforms

Nationwide, councils are operating in an environment of uncertainty with a series of proposed reforms such as the Resource Management Act, Three Waters, Civil Defence, and the Future for Local Government reviews.

These reforms all affect the very core of what councils do. It’s important the new Government is transparent and inclusive of Local Government in its review and decisions around these changes. We support local decision making as opposed to centralised services that are at arms-length from communities.

Place based deals

The new Government has raised the possibility of ‘place based deals.’

Place-based agreements are bespoke packages of funding and decision-making powers negotiated between central and local government and other local bodies.

They are designed to drive long-term, large-scale improvements at place in a way that shines light on local priorities.

We are keen to see how we could make such a deal work for Waimakariri and alongside neighbouring Councils. This could mean we would be able to fund significant infrastructure projects without the funding mechanism being rates alone.

We are optimistic about our Council’s future with central Government and look forward to working in partnership with them for the betterment of the Waimakariri District, Greater Christchurch, and Canterbury.

Three Waters

The new Government has repealed the mandated reform of Three Waters. Water assets will remain in Council ownership and local control.

In the coming years we expect and welcome further central government oversight of council-owned water infrastructure management.

The regulator, Taumata Arowai, require councils to meet minimum water operating standards and ensure they are investing to accommodate growth. Within a year, councils would be required to deliver their plans for meeting water quality and infrastructure investment rules while being financially sustainable.

The structures and models required to meet these standards will be determined with councils. We will be in touch with the community once the legislation has made clear what these standards will be and how we will need to invest and organise to meet them.

The Council has not been directed to fluoridate public water. As such, have not budgeted for this. If we are directed to include fluoride in our water we will inform our community as soon as possible.

However, new drinking water standards require supplies to be chlorinated.

Council chlorinated our water schemes in October 2023. The introduction of chlorine has not required any capital expenditure but will require $200,000 for annual operating costs. Council’s intention is to work with the new regulator on a programme of works that provides a pathway to chlorine exemptions.

Investment in transport

The Council is committed to advocating for better transport infrastructure in Waimakariri. Transport infrastructure is funded approximately 50/50 between rates and central government funding via NZ Transport Agency’s (Waka Kotahi) National Land Transport Fund.

We intend to submit a significant list of projects to NZTA’s programme for funding consideration. This includes a replacement of Skew Bridge in West Kaiapoi as well as the Rangiora Eastern Link Road.

We have also made an increase in our maintenance, operation, and renewal funding to keep our roads up to standard. We have asked NZTA to increase their contribution to meet this. We are also continuing to strongly advocate for fixed timelines for the construction of the Woodend Bypass.

We are pleased to see a commitment to the Woodend Bypass from central Government as well as the project’s inclusion in the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee’s draft Regional Land Transport Plan. This is essential infrastructure that is long overdue and we’re looking forward to partnering with central Government on its delivery.

In the preparation of this LTP the Council was working on the development of several cycleways that would connect our townships. This was to be funded through the central government Transport Choices Programme with local contributions, to encourage walking and cycling.

The new Government intends to repurpose funding from the Transport Choices programmes. Council staff will report to Council further on this once the intentions of the new Government are clear.

Housing

Council owns and runs 112 elderly housing units. Our growing waitlist shows that there are limited options for affordable rentals for small one or two person households. Equally, there are others under significant housing stress. The lead agencies for social housing remain the Government and Community Housing Providers. However, we do have a role as a land use regulator and can see where housing barriers exist, advocate for those in need and communicate what options, resources and/ or agencies are best placed to help resolve them.

This year the Council adopted a Housing Policy which guides how Council, and our partners, should approach initiatives that enhance the quality, quantity, affordability, and accessibility of housing across the District into the future.

It focuses Council’s efforts on initiatives that address housing needs of families and individuals on lower incomes and to those that otherwise face barriers to finding appropriate housing. You can find more information about the policy on the Council website: waimakariri.govt.nz/services/council-housing

Rubbish and recycling

We know that too much rubbish and recyclable material is ending up in landfills and our environment. There are a lot of changes happening in the sector that will result in costs being passed on to the end consumer.

These include:

• Increasing landfill levies
• Green waste provision may change with a reduction in the services and capacity offered at the Bromley processing plant
• The Southbrook facility is scheduled for an upgrade to meet the needs of our growing community
• The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) are signalling higher regulation standards. This includes the floating of the ‘mandatory’ adoption of organics bin collection.

To find out more about changes to the rules for rubbish and recycling visit: waimakariri.govt.nz/services/rubbish-recycling-and-organics