Annual Plan

Every three years – part way through each election term – the city is required to develop and adopt a long-term plan. In the years between long-term plans, annual plans are produced that outline any changes to the budget.

At the end of each year, an annual report and summary annual report let the community know about what’s been achieved and how we have performed, as well as anything that hasn’t quite gone to plan or anything unexpected that’s come up.

Annual plans are produced for the years between long term plans. Annual plans give us the opportunity to refresh information and budgets for the coming year and include the setting of rates.

A series of amendments were made to the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) in 2014 to encourage new ways of consulting and communicating with the community.

One of these amendments removed the requirement for councils to formally consult “if there are no significant or material differences to the content of the long-term plan”. This now makes formal consultation on proposed annual plans exceptions based.

An annual plan that includes an overview of any minor changes in costs (along with all other information required under Part 2 of Schedule 10 of the Act) must still be prepared and adopted by council resolution before 30 June.

Section 5 of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) describes “significance” as the degree of importance of any issue, proposal, decision, or matter, as assessed by the local authority, in terms of its likely impact on, and consequences for:

• the city (district) or region
• anyone likely to be particularly affected or interested
• the capacity of the local authority to perform its role, and the financial and other costs of doing so.

Section 5 also describes “significant” as any issue, proposal, decision, or other matter having a “high degree of significance, that is:

• significant or material variations/departures from the financial statements or funding impact statement in the long-term plan
• significant new spending proposals, and the associated costs, or
• substantial delays to, or cancellation of, significant projects, and associated implications.

The Council is required to have a significance and engagement policy under Section 76AA of the Local Government Act 2002. The Policy is reviewed every three years as part of long-term plans.

Significance is more than a financial impact, and often items with low value but that have high public interest can be significant.

Significance is ultimately determined by the elected members – read our Significance and Engagement Policy on our policy page.

Consultation involves receiving public feedback on proposals and is one form of engagement. The Council regularly consults communities through processes such as the long-term plan, which determine Council’s strategic direction, as well as how it sets budgets and prioritises projects.

The Council will consult with the community about significant decisions following the principles set out in Section 82 of the Act. The Council can also decide to consult at any time on a decision, where it considers that appropriate. For most Council decisions, there is no express requirement to consult the public, but we will consider people’s views and preferences.

Engagement is a broader and ongoing process of sharing information with the community and seeking its feedback, with the purpose of involving the community in the process of decision-making. This may or may not include a more formal consultation process.

Engaging with our community happens all year round, not just when it comes time for the Annual Plan process.

You can send us feedback at any time via our complaint, compliment or report it forms or by calling 06 370 6300.

You are also welcome to drop into our office at 161 Queen Street and give your feedback to any of our customer service team.