Annual Report 2018/2019

Our Council adopted the 2018/2019 Annual Report at its meeting on Thursday, 31 October 2019.

The Annual Report provides a snapshot of how we delivered on projects, services and spending compared to forecasts for the financial year in the Annual Plan or Long Term Plan.

Message from the Chief Executive and Mayor | Mai i te Kaiwhakahaere Wahine a Te Meia

Welcome to our 2018/2019 Annual Report.

We are pleased to provide this snapshot of what our Council has been delivering over the year 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.

This year we delivered year one of our work programme in the 2018-28 Long Term Plan, which focused on delivering the basics and giving each part of the district the support and services they need.

This has been a busy year with projects being completed across the district working alongside our communities.

In 2019 we began the review of our Community Plans. We held a series of focus groups in February and March 2019, and during April and May 2019 commenced initial engagement in our various townships across the District. The plans are about what a community can do itself (and advocate for), and what our Council can do in partnership with the community and other organisations.

Covering 400 kilometres, our Coromandel district has one of the largest coastlines in the country, and our council is focused on building 'resilient' coastal communities that can respond to and recover from these sorts of hazards, which are common to many parts of New Zealand. As our Council moves into its new Emergency Management structure, staff have been focusing on building up community resilience around the District.

Our Council has taken a major step forward in the delivery of our Coastal Management Strategy with the appointment of an international consultancy to support the development of our Shoreline Management Plans. This will be a milestone three-year project for our Council and New Zealand more broadly. The work our Council is doing is distinct in that we are developing Shoreline Management Plans across our whole district through active involvement of all key stakeholders along our beautiful coastline.

We had a number of highlights in the 2018/19 year; which include:

  • Whitianga celebrated the completion of stage one of the town centre upgrades in December 2018, and stage two commenced in 2019.
  • The unsealed part of Te Kouma Road was sealed so the whole road is now sealed all the way to Hannaford's Wharf.
  • A major pedestrian safety problem was remedied with the building of a footbridge at the Flaxmill Bay ford, which means pedestrians no longer have to compete with traffic to walk across on the road.
  • The Hahei Visitor car park at the entrance to the village was doubled in size to give a total capacity of close to 500 parks, meaning the pressure on the streets in the village at peak periods has been removed.
  • Council received $2 million of government co-funding towards upgrading tourism-related assets (toilets and carparks).
  • We're well underway with our programme to upgrade 10 water treatment facilities across our district with the first upgraded plant opened in July 2019.
  • Community Boards across the District allocated $178,000 in local grants and to community-based organisations with projects, activities and events aimed at promoting and developing local communities.
  • The 72 appeals to our District Plan lodged in 2016 have had 37 appeals fully resolved, and 3 appeals have been withdrawn. A further 13 appeals have been partly settled.
  • We had 364 resource consent applications during the year compared to 331 lodged over the previous financial year.
  • The Building Unit has had an increase in consent applications and inspections this year with the value of building work increasing by 9.5 per cent to nearly $220 million.

We look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the coming year and to continuing the conversation with our communities on the future of our district and how we as an organisation can meet their needs and expectations.

Mayor Sandra Goudie and Chief Executive Rob Williams