Taking Us Forward

Latest News & Media Releases

Published: 30 Jun 2020

Taking Us Forward - Our District's Recovery Plan

This is a summary of Councils response to the effects of COVID-19. We are continuing to refine and adapt our response to best meet the community’s needs.

What we are doing now

For You

  • Review Annual Plan and rates rise
  • Contactless payment options
  • Provide more options for payment of fees and charges
  • Providing more services online
  • Ensure our services are delivered safely according to Level 2 restrictions

For Business

  • Offer payment plans to spread cost of fees
  • Trial changes to CBD parking to support shopping local
  • Rapid supplier payments
  • Technology adopted to provide building inspections to be carried out remotely

For The Community

  • Maintain a Civil Defence response
  • Refocused budget
  • Develop and implement the City Hub strategy
  • Update our emergency management planning to increase our communities resilience
  • Initiating and lead the Re-ignition Panel
  • Greater co-operation and engagement with Central Government on funding opportunities

What we are planning to do

Continue to advance and implement the actions above as well as:

For You

  • Rate rebates and penalties policy review

For Business

  • Accelerating the large programme of projects
  • Increase the focus on sourcing products and services from and through local suppliers
  • Find ways to accelerate our consenting processes
  • Ongoing support for local stimulus campaigns

For the community

  • New $2M additional stimulus fund
  • Responding to the suggestions from the Re-ignition Panel
  • Refocused Annual Plan
  • Manage transition of emergency Welfare functions to other organisations
  • Ensure the review of the District Plan reflects the community’s aspirations for our built environment
  • Develop and implement the City Hub strategy
  • Update our emergency management planning to increase our communities resilience

What we are thinking about

Council is starting to think strategically about our future in a post-COVID world

  • Environmental Leadership
  • How to increase the economic, social, cultural and environmental resilience of our community to better ‘weather’ unexpected events?
  • Maintaining our place as a ‘lifestyle’ capital
  • Improving our community connectedness
  • Addressing the disruptions caused to our society by megatrends (e.g. low emissions economy
  • Supporting our CBDs to be the hubs of our towns, so people are attracted to shop, live & play
  • Dealing with the ‘new normal’ world COVID-19 has created
  • How do we maximise good environmental outcomes while keeping rates affordable for current and future generations?

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