Message from the Mayor

Kia ora tatou Council may have kept a tight lid on expenditure growth in 2011/12, limiting spending to 'must do' works. The depressed economic conditions were also an opportunity for it to reduce borrowings. By the end of the financial year, Council had cut historical debt by $8 million. Other achievements on behalf of ratepayers included a long overdue restructuring of the Infrastructure and Asset Management department and a major overhaul of the way roading priorities are set.

We also found ways to do things cheaper and completed a comprehensive review of the rating system. Most submitters supported fairer rating proposals in our Draft Long Term Plan 2012/22. However, some felt that a targeted road rate, which shifted the burden of roading costs from residential to forestry and farming sectors, contained anomalies. Councillors decided to defer the introduction of this rate for a further 12 months to provide more time to address the concerns of these submitters.

Despite budgetary constraints, Council was able to meet its commitments and complete a number of capital projects, including the $14 million Te Ahu Centre which Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae opened in February.

A good example of how Council adopted innovative approaches to reduce costs was the Kaeo sewerage scheme upgrade where about $400,000 was saved by adapting a natural treatment process that is used in other parts of New Zealand and overseas. Looking ahead, a big challenge facing Council will be to apply the same innovative, cost conscious approach to the proposed Bay of Islands Wastewater Scheme.

An important milestone in 2011/12 was the completion of an aerial geophysical survey of Northland, which Council helped fund. The survey results generally confirmed earlier reports by GNS Science and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research who estimated that growing Northland's mining industry could increase the region's gross domestic product by $280 million a year. It is now up to mining interests to establish whether exploitation of the mineral resource is economically viable. Communities will be able to have their say in setting the environmental standards for any mining proposals via the Resource Management Act process.

In other areas of economic development, Council agreed to sponsor the annual Snapper Bonanza surfcasting competition at Ninety Mile Beach and the State Paihia Classic Ocean Swim from Russell to Paihia for another year. We will be looking this year to further initiatives to encourage both visitors and new residents to the Far North.

Negotiations with landowners along the route of the Pou Herenga Tai - Twin Coast Cycle Trail have been ongoing and Council plans to complete the section between Kawakawa and Kaikohe before the end of the year. Staff are consulting the community over the use of the road between Okaihau and Horeke and hope to designate this section of the trail by March 2013.

Council introduced performance managed contracts for the maintenance of its roading assets during the year. The contracts reflect a new roading hierarchy classification system which stipulates standards to which roads are to be maintained.

We also completed a comprehensive inspection and audit of all bridges and structures on our road network. We will use information gained from this exercise to establish a forward works programme of maintenance, repairs and replacement.

This work, combined with improvements in the way we manage our roading asset, should result in better maintenance of the basic infrastructure that is needed to push the Far North forward in the years ahead.

Ka kite ano

Mayor Wayne Brown