HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL
Monday 08 June 2015
SUBJECT: Long Term Plan 2015-25 Staff Internal Submission
Reason for Report
1. This report
sets out a number of amendments to the LTP 2015-25 which have been identified
by staff.
Comments on Issues
2. This paper
provides the opportunity for Council to consider the following items in
relation to the LTP:
2.1. Section 1:
Carry forward of expenditure and revenue from 2014-15 to 2015-16.
2.2. Section 2:
Amendments to expenditure and revenue provisions that are required due to
changes in circumstances since the draft LTP budgets were adopted by Council.
2.3. Section 3:
Other amendments required to be made to the Draft LTP which reflect changes to
proposed charges – eg, Resource Management charges.
3. When
considering whether to approve the carry forward of expenditure to 2015-16 from
the 2014-15 year, it is important to take into consideration the current
pressures on the 2014-15 reforecast deficit position. In April 2015 this
deficit was forecast to be $478,000. At the Council meeting on 27 May 2015 when
HBRIC Ltd presented their operational update, it was drawn to Council’s
attention that the Environmental Protection Agency and related costs covering
the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme appeals had increased over original
estimates. It was stated that Council’s share of this overrun would be in
the order of $120,000 which covers the potion related to Plan Change 6.
4. This increase
in expenditure will move the reforecast deficit out to $598,000.
5. This compared
to the deficit of $424,000 set in the Annual Plan 2014-15.
Groups of Activities
Regional Resources
6. Project 380
– Sustainable Land Management
6.1. Seek a total
of $120,000 to be carried forward from project 380-2860 (regional land care
grants). These funds were originally set aside to support on-ground
projects leading to improvements in the objectives identified in the Papanui
sub-catchment plan and were to support and incentivise the largely voluntary
actions required to address the catchment specific objectives of excessive
dissolved reactive phosphorus in-stream and excessive macrophyte growth within
and along the stream margins.
6.2. The primary
reason as to why these funds were not spent was due to the delays and
uncertainty in the outcomes of the PC6 and RWSS deliberations, which
subsequently delayed the articulation of the sub-catchment plans priorities for
local actions and investment. The group was reluctant to invest funds on-ground
until they could be certain how those funds could be best utilised to support
the wider needs to the sub-catchment community. This issue has largely been
addressed by the recent draft decision from the EPA board, however some
uncertainty remains. Staff will continue to monitor the situation but
remain confident that the provision will be valuable in encouraging land owners
to meet new requirements under Plan Change 6 over the next several years.
6.3. The table
below sets out the Regional Land Care grants budgeted in the Annual Plan
2014-15 and the LTP 2015-2025 – please note, this table does include in
the 2014-15 year, the $120,000 that is proposed to be carried forward.
Effect on Plan
6.4. An increase
in funding for project 380-2860 in 2015-16 funded from unexpended funds in
2014-15.
Recommendation
6.5. That Council
approves the carry forward in project
380-2860 of $120,000 to cover costs associated with implementing the Papanui
sub-catchment plan.
7. Project 320
– Surface Water Quantity
7.1. Provision of
$27,000 was made in 2014-15 for the completion of an audit relating to surface
water quantity issues. This audit was not carried out because the impending new
requirements to quality code surface water data to the new National
Environmental Measuring Standards (NEMS) had not been completed. It
is proposed to carry this audit out in 2015-16 now the standards have been
finalised.
7.2. $27,000 is
being sought to be carried forward from 320-2380 (consultancy) from 2014-15 to
2015-16 for audit requirements.
Effect on Plan
7.3. An increase
in funding for project 320-2380 of $27,000 in 2015/16 funded from unexpended
funds in 2014-15.
Recommendation
7.4. The Council
approves the carry forward in project 320-2380 of $27,000 from 2014-15 to
2015-16.
8. Project 339
– Regional Land Science Research
8.1. The modelling
capability within the Hydrogeology team has recently changed bringing with it a
more diverse understanding of model platforms for groundwater and contaminant
transport modelling. Council had committed funding towards a building
contaminant transport model for the TANK policy setting process.
8.2. With the
advent of the new modelling capacity a review of the model requirements for
TANK was undertaken. This resulted in a recommendation to move to a more
advanced groundwater model platform (MOD-HMS). This platform has a
‘bolt on module’ for contaminant transport (Surfact) that is
industry standard and adaptable to specific catchments.
8.3. The
Hydrogeology Team recommended a change to this model platform to provide a
cutting edge approach to modelling surface-groundwater interactions as well as
the integration of a contaminant transport model. This reduced the model
development costs and provided the potential for greater model performance than
first anticipated.
8.4. This
recommendation was put to the TANK Technical Advisory Group for science who
supported the approach. The recommendation of the TAG was to invest in
reliable data to improve the model performance and calibration to support the
development of policy scenarios.
8.5. Acting on
this the recommendation is to abandon the original approach of building a new
model platform for the TANK process and to instead use the MOD-HMS Surfact
platform. This reduced the model build costs and allows for the released
funding to be used for the acquisition of new data to improve the quality of
scenarios developed for the TANK policy setting process.
8.6. This has been
raised with the TANK collaborative group to ensure they are aware of the
proposed new direction.
8.7. It is
proposed to carry forward $231,000 from project 339-2380 (consultancy) into the
2015-16 year to fund this.
Effect on Plan
8.8. An increase
in funding for project 339-2380 of $231,000 in 2015/16 funded from unexpended
funds in 2014-15.
Recommendation
8.9. That Council
approves the carry forward in project 339-2380 of $231,000 from 2014-15 to
2015-16.
9. Project 341
– Air Quality
9.1. Seek a total
of $76,000 to be carried forward from project 341-2380 (consultancy) for the
completion of air quality sites. This was provided to re-configure the Awatoto
and St John’s sites to accommodate PM2.5 monitoring and potentially also
establishing a new PM10 site in Tamatea. The planned upgrade of sites to
enable PM2.5 monitoring is on the back of the Parliamentary Commission for the
Environment report, which concluded that PM2.5 should be the key pollutant
being monitored in New Zealand, and a likely review of the National Environment
Standards for Air Quality by MfE this year. It was hoped the site work could
be completed this financial year but contractors have been unavailable prior to
the start of the winter season and it is proposed to carry this forward to the
2015-16 year to complete the projects.
Effect on Plan
9.2. An increase
in funding for project 341-2380 of $76,000 in 2015-16 funded from unexpended
funds in 2014-15.
Recommendation
9.3. That Council
approves the carry forward in project 341-2380 of $76,000 from 2014-15 to
2015-16.
Capital Expenditure Adjustments
Plant and Equipment
10. Technical Capital
– Science
10.1. Seek $30,000 to be
carried forward from 2014/15 science technical capital budget. $20,000 is
for in the install of flow and rainfall sites where the equipment has been
purchased but installation has been delayed until the 2015-16 year due to
unavailability of contractors. $10,000 is for Water Quality Sensors which
were due to be replaced in the 2014-15 year but are still operating effectively
and these are now proposed to be replaced in the 2015-16 year.
Effect on Plan
10.2. An increase in funding
for science technical capital items of $30,000 from 2014-15 to 2015-16 funded
from asset replacement reserves.
Recommendation
10.3. That Council approves
the carry forward of science technical capital items of $30,000 from 2014-15 to
2015-16.
Section 2: Amendments to Revenue and
Expenditure Funding Levels
Governance and Community Engagement
11. Project 876 –
Contingency Funding Support
11.1. The Local Government
Commission has yet to issue a final proposal on local government amalgamation
in Hawke’s Bay. If this proposal is supportive of amalgamation then it is
highly likely that a poll will need to be carried out as provided for under the
Local Government Act 2002 (LGA). If a poll is to be held, then section 25
of the LGA states in sub paragraph 4:
11.2. “The costs of
the poll are to be apportioned among the affected local authorities on the
basis of the number of affected electors on the electoral roll of the affected
local authorities.”
11.3. Elections and polls in
Hawke’s Bay are run by Election New Zealand and discussions with them
have established that if a poll was to be undertaken, the cost would be in the
vicinity of between $200k and $250k. There has been no decision on the
apportionment between councils and there is no precedence to base this cost
allocation on. Accordingly it is recommended that this Council consider setting
aside between $75,000 as a contribution to a poll if one is undertaken.
11.4. Currently Council has,
as part of the Contingency Funding Support project, a fund of $50,000.
The proposal to Council is for this contingency provision to be lifted to
$75,000 for the 2015-16 year.
Effect on Plan
11.5. An increase in funding
for project 876 of $25,000 in 2015-16 which would increase Council’s
operating deficit by this amount.
Recommendation
11.6. That Council approves an
additional allocation of $25,000 to Project 876 - Contingency Funding Support,
noting that such an increase will increase Council’s operating deficit in
2015-16.
Section 3: Amendments to LTP Policies and
Proposed Charges
Resource Management
HBRC Charges
12. Seek to align the hourly
rate charges that were included in Table 6 of the HBRC Charges but were not
reflected in Table 2 or 2a. See proposed changes following.
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Table 2: Monitoring Task (excluding water
takes with water measuring device)
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Fixed Basic
Annual Charge (Excl GST)
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Inspection and associated
reporting and administration
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$340 385
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Inspection and associated
reporting and administration of unmetered water takes
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$263 293
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Additional inspection, reporting
and administration charges where a resource consent authorises groundwater
takes from more than two wells
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$62 - each additional well over 2. 70
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Additional inspection,
reporting and administration charges where additional consents under the same
ownership and invoiced collectively, within 5km of each other, and able to be
inspected on the same day
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$206 - each additional consent.
233
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Sampling time (sampling
analysis will be at cost – see Table 4)
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$97 110
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Other information returns
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$97 110
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Table 2a: Monitoring Water Measuring Devices
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Annual Charge (Excl GST)
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Sampling time (sampling analysis will be at cost
– see Table 4)
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$97 110
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Water use returns & Audits –
Telemetered, Web/Text entry
Each additional water measuring device
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$200
$ 30
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Water use returns & Audits –
Fax/Email/Standard Mail
Each additional water measuring device
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$242
$ 66
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Where water measuring devices do not meet
HBRC’s approved devices criteria or are not installed by an approved
installer, a full compliance audit will be undertaken.
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$340 385
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Non exercised consent
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$ 92
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Charges to Holders of Resource Consents
for Flow Monitoring
13. Seek to amend the wording
for charges to holders of resource consents for flow monitoring which were not
updated from the 2014/15 Annual Plan. See proposed changes below.
Charges
to holders of Resource Consents for Low Flow Monitoring
For holders of consents to take
water where the abstraction is subject to low flow limits (directly or via
gallery intake or wells), the cost of monitoring the low flows will be
recovered for each water take subject to low flow restrictions (Excluding
frost consents that are from the same take point as an irrigation consent, held
in the same name)
· A
charge of $100 each primary consent (excl GST)
· Where
there are zero to nine water measuring devices an additional charge of $75
(excl GST) for each additional meter
· Should
the fixed charges not cover the actual and reasonable costs associated with the
low flow monitoring programme an additional charge shall
be added to all consents subject to the low flow charge to recover the actual
and reasonable costs incurred.
Effect on
Plan
14. There is no effect on the
plan as these figures are already factored into the financial model but the
tables and wording need to reflect actual figures.
Recommendation
15. That Council approves the
minor amendments proposed above to table 2 and 2a and the amendments to the
wording of charges to holders of resource consents for flow monitoring as
proposed above.
Summary of Effect of this Submission on the Draft LTP General Funded
Surplus/ (Deficit)
For additional detail please refer to
Attachment 1
Decision Making
Process
16. Council
is required to make a decision in accordance with the requirements of the Local
Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements
contained in Part 6 Sub Part 1 of the Act in relation to this item and have
concluded the following:
16.1. Sections
83 & 84 of the Act set out the requirements of the Act where special consultative
procedure applies with consideration of the draft Annual Plan 2014‑15.
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Recommendations
That Council:
1. Agrees that the decisions to be made on the issues submitted to
the Long Term Plan 2015-25 are made after the provisions included in sections
83 and 84 of the Local Government Act 2002 have been followed.
2. Receives and considers Council’s internal submission.
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Paul Drury
Group Manager Corporate Services
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Iain Maxwell
Group Manager Resource Management
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Liz Lambert
Chief Executive
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Attachment/s
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1
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Financial
Impact of Internal Submission Recommendations
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HAWKE’S BAY
REGIONAL COUNCIL
Monday 08 June 2015
SUBJECT Submissions on the Long Term Plan
2015-25
Reason for Report
1. The purpose of this paper is to outline the process to be undertaken
to hear and consider submissions received on the Long Term Plan 2015-25 (LTP).
Background
2. Council’s Our Plan LTP consultation document was publicly
notified in the region’s local free community papers, paid daily
newspaper, and on radio. It was available from 10 April 2015 for public
consideration as required by the Local Government Act 2002.
3. Our Plan was distributed via letterbox to every household in the
region. The distribution was approximately 53,000. Further promotion was
achieved using media coverage, Facebook posts, Giggle TV in 57 public outlets,
and email to a targeted council committee and consultation database.
4. 7 public meetings were held in each of the main centres during April
and May, to promote Our Plan and the LTP and encourage submissions. This
resulted in public attendance of 22 persons in Wairoa, 18 in Napier, 6 in
Hastings and 12 in Waipawa.
5. Submissions closed at 4.00pm on Monday 18 May 2014.
6. This year, Council received 152 submissions, of which 62 submitters
expressed a wish to verbally speak to Council.
7. Copies of the Staff responses to submissions were sent to each of
the submitters on 3 June 2015.
8. In recent years, Council received the following number of
submissions in relation to Annual Plan / 10 Year Plan:
8.1. Annual Plan 2014-15 received 103 submissions
8.2. Annual Plan 2013-14 received 62 submissions
8.3. Long Term Plan 2012-22 received 583 submissions, including:
8.3.1. 256 pro-forma re
‘fracking’
8.3.2. 35 pro-forma re hockey turf t
Regional Sports Park
8.3.3. 28 pro-forma re Te Mata Peak
visitor centre funding
8.4. Annual Plan 2011-12 received 46 submissions
8.5. Annual Plan 2010-11 received 135 submissions (57 ordinary, 78 s36
charges)
9. The procedure for considering submissions will be that Council:
9.1. Hears all verbal submissions as per the attached timetables, and
Council’s internal submission
9.2. Considers those submissions, bearing in mind the verbal submissions
made in support of written submissions and staff responses to submissions which
are attached
9.3. Resolves any changes to be made to the Long Term Plan 2015-25 based
on the decisions made on submissions from the general public, and
Council’s internal submission.
10. Subsequent
to Council’s decisions on the submissions, the Long Term Plan will be
revised to incorporate the necessary amendments. Council will then adopt the
final Long Term Plan on 24 June 2015.
11. Following
the adoption of the Plan on 24 June each submitter will receive a letter from
Council setting out Council's resolution(s) pertinent to their specific
submission(s), and the reasons for the resolution(s).
12. The final
Long Term Plan will be available within one month of the date of adoption as
required under Section 93 (10) of the Local Government Act 2002.
Decision Making
Process
13. Council
is required to make a decision in accordance with Part 6 Sub-Part 1, of the
Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements contained
within this section of the Act in relation to this item and have concluded the
following:
13.1. Sections 83 and 85 of the Act set out the requirements of the Act
where special consultative procedure applies with consideration of the draft
Annual Plan 2014-15.
13.2. The issues to be considered in this paper are those issues raised by
members of the community that have submitted to the Council on the Draft Annual
Plan. All submissions are an integral part of the special consultative
processes set out in Section 83 and 85 of the Local Government Act 2002.
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Recommendations
That Council:
1. Agrees that the decisions to be made on issues submitted on the
Long Term Plan 2015-25 are made after the provisions included in sections 83
and 85 of the Local Government Act 2002 have been followed.
2. Receives and considers the verbal and written submissions.
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Paul Drury
Group Manager Corporate Services
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Liz Lambert
Chief Executive
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Attachment/s
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1
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Overall Rates
Rise Comments & Officers Response
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2
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Water Science
Charges Comments Received and Officers Response
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3
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Developing
Our Economy Comments Received & Officers Response
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4
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Managing Our
Environment Comments Received & Officers Response
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5
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Tourism
Comments Received & Officers Response
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6
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Looking After
Our Waterways Comments Received & Officers Response
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7
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Managing and
Monitoring Our Land Comments Received & Officers Response
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8
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HB Trails
Comments Received & Officers Response
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9
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Te Mata Park
Comments Received & Officers Response
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10
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HBRC Regional
Parks Comments Received & Officers Response
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11
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Biodiversity
Strategy Comments Received & Officers Response
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12
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Pest Control
Comments Received & Officers Response
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13
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Emergency
Management Comments Received & Officers Response
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14
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Relationships
with Tangata Whenua Comments Received & Officers Response
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15
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Transport
Related Comments & Officers Response
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16
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Funding
Requests Received and officers' Responses
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Under
Separate Cover
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17
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Various
Unrelated Comments Received & Officers' Responses
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Under
Separate Cover
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18
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Provisional
Hearings Timetable
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Under
Separate Cover
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