Our first step in planning for the next 10-Year Plan is understanding what has changed since the 2021-2031 Plan was adopted.
This includes legislative and sectoral changes, shifts in national direction, new local aspirations, population growth, extreme weather events in Tasman, the Covid-19 pandemic, Waimea Community Dam cost increases, and the macro-economic environment: increases to inflation, insurance costs, interest rates, labour shortages, and supply chain issues.
There is also a range of ongoing constraints that need to be factored into our planning.
This includes further legislative changes placing new responsibilities on local government, the uncertainty of the financial impacts of three waters going, including the baseline cost to run Council, and the future role of LG within the Future for Local Government review.
We also carry out an environmental scan to gather information about external events and trends that might affect the District. Doing this early in the 10-Year Plan process helps us understand the factors that affect the community and Council.
The key points from the draft 2023 Environmental Scan are:
- Tasman’s population is ageing, which has implications for service delivery
- We have a rural economy and it's in for a rough few years
- Climate and environment will continue to be affected substantially by climate change
