Start of LTP consultation delayed a few days
The Central Otago District Council (CODC) will further delay the start of its 2025-34 Long-term Plan consultation to fulfil auditing requirements.
The Council was informed by the auditor of a technical accounting issue relating to the Long-term Plan (LTP) Consultation Document yesterday (Wednesday 26 March 2025), following the council meeting at Ranfurly.
This relates to Three Waters (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater) and how the Council recognises the transfer of three waters assets out of the accounts by the time the changes to the delivery of water services comes into effect in 2027.
It has resulted in some changes to the Financials, Financial Strategy, and Consultation Document, which will require review by the Office of the Auditor General.
The Council has been advised this will not be completed in time for the Council meeting tomorrow (Friday 28 March 2025) which was called to approve the LTP consultation document so that consultation could open. The extraordinary meeting has been rescheduled for Monday (31 March 2025) as an emergency meeting (because of the short notice given), and the Council will be keeping the community updated on when the consultation can begin, tentatively Tuesday 1 April to 1 May. Details will be on the Council’s Meeting page: Meetings - Central Otago District Council and and on social media.
At this stage, all community meetings advertised will go ahead as planned, and the dates for the hearings and deliberations remain unchanged. The Council will provide updates on any changes.
The 2025-34 LTP Consultation Document will be available on Let's Talk
Local (Southern) Water Done Well update
The Council learned last week that the Timaru District Council had withdrawn from the discussion about being part of a multi-council organisation for the delivery of water services. A joint approach is one of the options to be consulted on with the community in both the CODC’s upcoming LTP and the wider Southern Water Done Well consultation involving Central Otago, Gore, Waitaki and Clutha district councils.
In early March, the Timaru council met and approved entering a “Commitment Agreement” with the four councils but two weeks later informed the southern group that it was no longer interested in being involved in a joint Council Controlled Organisation (CCO).
At the Council meeting held at Ranfurly (Wednesday 26 March 2025), CODC Chief Executive Peter Kelly said that the report concerning Timaru’s anticipated joining had been tabled in the agenda before the news came of their withdrawal.
The impact was that the CODC’s processes had been delayed by two to three weeks to incorporate Timaru into its financial modelling, which would now need to be adjusted.
Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley explained that there had always been several “off ramps” for councils to exit; the agreement provides for individual councils to withdraw participation at any time, as the options are further defined, and the views of communities and stakeholders are sought through public consultation.
Mr Kelly provided the Council with some insights into the probable reasons for Timaru’s decision; that it seemed more likely they would join with sub-regional councils such as Waimate and Mackenzie “but were not overly interested in looking south” at this time.
In his report, he states that while an additional council would have added to the economies of scale and overall viability of a joint CCO, the “original four” was still a viable option: This had already been considered in the modelling and would not greatly change the cost to Council and impact on ratepayers.
Elected members welcomed the opportunity to discuss the next steps in assessing the available water service delivery model options that would be up for consultation.
