Christchurch City Council has received more than 1000 submissions on its Draft Annual Plan for 2025/26, with the public consultation period now closed and hearings set to begin this week.
The Draft Plan, which sets out the Council’s priorities, projects and services for the coming financial year, was open for public feedback from 26 February to 28 March.
Mayor Phil Mauger said the Council was grateful for the strong level of public participation.
“We want to thank all the individuals and organisations who had a say on our Draft Annual Plan this year. Our job as leaders of the city is to listen to our communities, and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing,” said Mauger.
Hearings begin on Wednesday 2 April, where the Mayor and Councillors will consider all feedback, including oral presentations from around 100 groups and individuals.
“Topics that got a lot of attention include transport, our parks, and the overall affordability of our rates, with people telling us what services they value the most, what they feel they could do without, and opportunities for savings,” Mauger said.
“We also got a range of feedback on the key issues we asked about specifically – a grant for the Air Force Museum, a scoping report on a central city shuttle service, pausing the Christ Church Cathedral targeted rate, and charging rates for renewing our infrastructure.”
“When the Councillors and I sit down at the hearings, we consider every single bit of feedback, and it has an impact on the final shape of the Annual Plan.”
The Draft Annual Plan outlines the activities, services and capital projects the Council proposes to deliver in 2025/26 and how these will be funded. It also highlights key changes from the Long Term Plan 2024–2034.
This year’s draft proposed $861 million to be spent on day-to-day services and $736 million on capital works. The overall average rates increase proposed is 7.58%, which equates to about $5.64 more per week for the average household.
The Council will finalise the Annual Plan after considering all public feedback and deliberations in the coming weeks.
