Monday May 5: The Matangi Community Committee meeting will be held at 7.30 p.m., at the Council and Community Office in Tamahere (above the Tamahere Pharmacy). All Welcome. Items on the Agenda include plans for the Matangi Recreational Reserve, the HCC Morrinsville Road Upgrade, the Matangi Strategic Plan and the WDC Long Term Plan(LTP).

Tuesday May 6: 6 – 7 p.m. District Councillors and staff are offering a session on the LTP at the Tamahere Community Centre 21 Devine Road, Tamahere. All Welcome

“Have questions about the draft 2025-2034 Long Term Plan(LTP)? Want to chat with your local Councillor about what matters most to your community? Join us at this session and take the opportunity to: Meet your local Councillor and have a conversation about the future of our district. Ask questions about the proposed plan and how it affects you. Share your thoughts on key topics like roading, water, community halls, and waste services.”

Sunday May 11*. LTP submissions close

*an earlier post mistakenly stated May 14

A word from the Mayor Kia ora,  This special edition of Council News is all about things we’d like to hear your thoughts on, including water services, roading, rubbish, community halls and other issues impacting our communities.   Your feedback will help us shape the final 2025-2034 Long Term Plan (LTP), which outlines how we will keep providing services and projects while balancing costs and growth. Like many parts of New Zealand, we’re facing some challenges, but also some exciting opportunities.   Our district is nearly the same size as Auckland, and we manage over $2 billion in assets, including seven water and nine wastewater treatment plants, 2,520 km of roads and 402 bridges, 2,178ha of reserves. We’re proud to be one of New Zealand’s top councils with an AA+ financial rating, meaning our finances are well managed while delivering important services.   Thank you to everyone who has already had their say. Your voice is important to make sure the decisions we make reflect the needs of our communities. Please take the time to share your thoughts by 11 May 2025 – it will make a real difference for you, your whaanau, and our district’s future.   Find out more and make a submission online, attend one of our engagement events or pick up a printed feedback form at your local library or Council office.     Ngaa mihi,  Mayor Jacqui   Have your say by 11 May 2025     Across the district and in your community We need your feedback on important topics for our district and your community.  This Long Term Plan (LTP) focuses on the ‘must haves,’ delivering what we said we would while keeping within budget. Some things we want to do just aren’t affordable right now.  There are two types of rates:  General rates, which everyone pays, based on your property value (this includes a fixed charge and a variable charge).  Targeted rates, which are only charged to properties that benefit from specific services, like rubbish collection or water supply.  In this draft LTP, we’re proposing a 4.25% increase to general rates in the first year (25/26), and targeted rate increases between 4.5% and 11%.  As the cost of living continues to put pressure on households, Waikato District Council is focused on delivering the essential services that residents rely on every day.  Use our online rates calculator to see what this could mean for your property.     Water services We’re looking to change the way we deliver water services. New Government legislation requires all councils to submit a Water Services Delivery Plan by September 2025. This is part of the Local Water Done Well programme, aimed at ensuring New Zealand’s water services are safe, reliable, and financially sustainable.  While change is required, we get to decide how it happens, and your input will help shape the path we take.  The council ‘s preferred option is to form a new Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) with Hamilton City Council to manage water services. This would help manage future costs and improve services.   We anticipate this will bring some relief to ratepayers in future years, but it will take up a good part of this LTP – about five to 10 years – to realise the full benefits. This is one of the major matters in our LTP that we would like your feedback on.  Learn more.   Roading Funding for our district’s roading comes from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and while it has been increased relative to previous years we received less than the amount requested.   We are asking the community if they would like us to do more maintenance on our roading network for the next two years with rates funding only, which would mean a bigger increase in rates? Or should we deliver what we have received NZTA funding for, and keep rates lower?   In two years, we will submit another bid to NZTA to provide more funding, but in the meantime, we have had to carefully prioritise our work programme as rates affordability is a major focus.  Learn more about our roading programme.   Rubbish and recycling We’re reviewing our rubbish and recycling services to make sure they’re fair, cost-effective, and sustainable.  Proposed changes include:   Moving from wheelie bins to rubbish bags in Tuakau to make rubbish collection services more cost-effective, efficient and equitable across the district.  A new recycling collection point in Te Aakau  Extending the weekly waste collection service to include Island Block Road.      Community halls We’re reviewing how some of our 34 Council-owned community halls are funded through targeted rates. We especially want to hear from you if you live in the Eureka, Glen Murray, Huntly, Maramarua, Naike, Opuatia, Pukekawa, Puketaha, Ruawaro or Whatawhata areas.  You can also check if the proposed targeted rate changes will impact your property using our online rates calculator.   Are you in one of these locations?     Changes to rubbish and recycling services  Changes are proposed to rubbish and recycling services, including new sticker prices and collection updates in some areas. From 1 July 2025, sticker costs will increase to better reflect service delivery costs.    Reviewing service costs Each year, we review our fees and charges as part of our budgeting. The proposed changes help cover the cost of providing services. Where possible, we set user-pays charges so those who use the services help fund them, keeping rates fair and any increases as low as possible.    Our growing district Our district is growing fast, especially our towns and villages. To help fund the infrastructure needed for this growth, we use development contributions (DCs), alongside rates and Government grants. We’re proposing some updates to our DC policy to meet new rules and make sure it works better for everyone   Have your say by 11 May 2025     We’d love your feedback on our e-newsletter. Simply click on the link below or email web.content@waidc.govt.nz.     Give us your feedback