Business Councillor Alister James, chair of the Annual Plan Subcommittee, made the following speech last month to introduce the 2003/04 Draft Annual Plan to the City Council. The plan was adopted at a special Council meeting on 25 March.

I thank the members of the Annual Plan Subcommittee for their detailed consideration of the plan and programmes. I am particularly grateful for the assistance and efforts of all staff involved in the process. It was apparent to me and other members of the subcommittee that the standing committees exercised restraint in their consideration of unit budgets and in particular, any proposed new initiatives.

As part of the 2002 Annual Plan process, the unspecified sums for 2002/2003 and for the next two years were deleted in order to contain future rate increases. By implication, new initiatives were to be funded by way of substitution or efficiency gain.

Furthermore, Council resolved on the initiative of the Mayor to put in place measures to achieve cost reductions and revenue increases whereby the projected rates budget for 2005/2006 would be reduced by $10 million.

This target has not only been reached but has been exceeded.The process of achieving savings and efficiency gains is ongoing with the reviews of unit budgets. This has been achieved as the result of hard work by staff and with the support of elected members.

Management this year set tough guidelines for preparation of budgets so that increases could be contained. Other factors in minimising increases have included the drawdown of special funds and some smoothing of capital programmes.

But there are a number of unavoidable cost pressures, including the increased costs of insurance premiums, resource consent requirements for the Burwood Landfill, including gas control ($1.01m), increase in the costs of combating graffiti, swimming pool inspections, increase in the costs of LPG, asset maintenance of new reserves and wastewater treatment plant monitoring as required by new Resource Consent conditions.

Of particular concern is the additional $2.17m increase in the City Streets capital programme arising from bitumen cost increases as well as an increase in construction costs. This does not result in any “as usual increase in the programme of work.

New initiatives include the redevelopment of Wainoni Park to be funded over the next three years, a modest increase in funding for the Arts Centre relating to upgrade of its heritage buildings and an increase in funding for transport planning.

The latter provision signals the need to increase our funding of transport improvements in future years and to the extent possibly of $3m a year. It also indicates the strong advocacy needed in concert with other territorial authorities south of the Bombay Hills to ensure we receive our fair share of the cake as regards Transit funding.

This draft plan provides little new thrills or frills and is very much a business-as-usual plan. However, it does indicate a prioritising of basic services. I have referred to the need for an increase in future budgets for transport improvements. We are all aware of future rating levels increasing and arising from the treated wastewater ocean outfall and the new landfill.

The other issue that will challenge us for the next 18 months relates to solid waste and the current proposal for the elimination of free refuse bags. I support consideration of the introduction of a greenwaste collection and in due course extending to putrecibles. This will of course impact on rating levels but is clearly supported by householders.

Rate projections in the Draft Plan are below those projected in last year’s budget. This is a pleasing result but it will become increasingly difficult to maintain modest increases with the pressures that I have outlined.

Last year was the first year in which we adopted triple bottom line reporting with environmental, social and economic performance indicators. This next year will see the adoption of a draft long term council community plan in which the triple bottom line approach becomes more significant in its impact and will ensure that Christchurch is at the forefront of sustainable development.

Last year, some of the city’s media urged us to adopt an outside audit of the sort initiated in Auckland by Mayor John Banks and using the services of Sir William Birch and company.We have been successful in adopting a range of savings and efficiency gains without the expense of high-paid consultants and without compromising services or selling off assets.