While many of the submissions which we will receive will focus on specific projects or programmes, it is important not to overlook the strategic aspect of the Plan, which is about the delivery to the people of Christchurch of sustainable quality-of-life outcomes.

The outcomes which the Council is seeking to achieve are detailed in the Strategic Section of the Plan and can be summarised as follows:

• Community Cohesion and Well-being
• Economic Development, and
• Environmental Sustainability

This Draft Plan seeks to build on past Plans by helping ensure that there is significant progress towards the achievement of these outcomes.

Some services and projects have been reprioritised, and some new services and projects have been introduced. These changes are designed to lock in further progress towards the desired outcomes.

Put another way, the Council is keen to ensure that Christchurch continues to be a great place to live over the next 12 months and that this improvement continues so that, in five years and 20 years, it is an even better place to live.

Economic Development

One of the three outcomes that the Council is seeking to achieve is “sustainable economic development in order to generate employment and income and enhance the quality of life of all residents”.

A new initiative which will make a significant contribution to this outcome is the proposal to invest $24 million in the Christchurch Engine Centre. This is a rare investment opportunity which will allow the Christchurch Engine Centre (which is owned by Pratt & Whitley and Air New Zealand) to expand its engineering operations.

This investment will enable Pratt & Whitley to expand the engineering operations and thereby secure a number of large maintenance contracts. The economic impacts on the city are significant. They can be summarised as follows:

• The retention of 300 jobs at the Engine Centre
• An estimated $30.8m annual contribution to the Canterbury economy
• An estimated $16m contribution to the Canterbury economy during the construction phase
• The creation of a substantial number of new jobs over the next 10 years
• Enhancing the city’s high technology reputation and the promotion of the city as a centre for engineering and avionics
• The generation of a positive rate of return on the investment. This investment will not be rate funded but will be financed through the acquisition of shares and loans to a Council controlled company — Christchurch City Facilities Ltd

In addition to the Christchurch Engine Centre investment, the Council is also proposing other economic development initiatives with the economy, environment objective of increasing the number of sustainable employment opportunities.

These new initiatives are:

• Film South ($100,000 a year) There is currently unprecedented interest in New Zealand and Canterbury as a production location for major feature filming as a result of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The November Council meeting recognised this and voted $100,000 for Film South activities for the balance of 2002/03. This proposal locks this support in for subsequent years.
• Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy (CREDS) and Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) ($50,000 in 2003/04 and 2004/05) The CREDS document was published in late 2000 and is in need of a thorough revision and update. Concurrent with that need is the obligation for local government to consult and prepare an LTCCP document. The Canterbury Development Corporation (CDC) has been identified as the lead agency for the preparation of the Economic Development Strategy component of the LTCCP process. The $50,000 in 2003/04 and also in 2004/05 will ensure that environment the CDC is resourced to carry out this task.
• Industry Clusters — Development and Manage- ment ($100,000 a year for the next five years) Industry clusters are about moving an increasing number of small to medium-sized enterprises through to export market development. The CDC has identified 6-10 industry groupings which have varying degrees of potential for clusteringbased facilitation interventions. Wellington City, through its Economic Development Agency (WREDA), currently provides funding support for 12 clusters. The CDC is seeking an amount of $100,000 per annum for this important work.
• Creative Industries Expo ($75,000 in 2003/04) The development of a major Creative Industries Expo for 2004/05 is seen as a real opportunity for the city to highlight the products of the creative industries sectors. This will raise the profile of the sector and provide a platform for significant marketing opportunities. Although all the above initiatives are grouped under the Economic Development outcome, a number will also contribute indirectly to the Community Cohesion and Well-being Outcome.

Environmental Sustainability

A recent survey has indicated that 76% of residents support the waster pays principle as an effective way to reduce waste, but 67% disapprove of direct payment for refuse bags. It is against this background that the Council is proposing a staged introduction of waster pays for refuse bags.

Homeowners currently get 52 bags a year and in last year’s 2003 Plan the Council indicated it would stop supplying them in 2003/04. It is now proposed to revisit this decision and, in the meantime, to supply 26 rates-funded bags in 2003/04.

The Council also asked its Sustainable Transport and Utilities Committee to investigate and report back on:

• A staged introduction of waster pays for refuse bags over two or three years
• The introduction of a rates-funded wheelie bin for all households later in 2004, initially for the collection of greenwaste only and later to also include household putrescible waste, and
• additional ways of dealing with household organic waste (such as better home composting methods)

The Council also resolved to undertake a special consultative procedure from October 2003 on the issue of household waste removal which clearly sets out the costs and benefits of each option.

Cohesion and Well-being

Although the new initiatives which will help ensure further progress towards this outcome are quite varied, they have equal importance to those mentioned above. They include:

Last year’s Draft Plan referred to projected rate increases and the need to review and identify savings. Christchurch has a proportionately high number of residents on low or fixed incomes and the Council understands it needs to improve and maintain its financial discipline, identify poor-quality spending and discover where savings can be made.

It was against this background that the Council resolved to, “Set in place process to identify opportunities to achieve cost reductions and revenue increases in its operational budget to ensure that by 2005/06 the projected budget is reduced by $10m.”

It is pleasing to report that, since this resolution was passed, a combination of budget-scrutiny reviews, internal business-improvement reviews and work by the Council’s Standing Committees and Business Units has ensured that significant progress has been made towards meeting the $10m target. The savings achieved to date total $9.05m. As a result of this work the draft budget rate increases for 2003/04 and 2004/05 are well below the forecasts produced last year.

These budgetary changes contribute to the Financial Stewardship Strategic Goal — “Continue to improve efficiency in the delivery of Council activities and programmes and measuring the value created through efficiency gains”.

Legislative Requirements

The new Local Government Act (2002) and the new Local Government (Rating) Act (2002) require a number of policies and statements to be included in the Draft Plan. These Policies and Statements are:

• Funding Impact Statement
• Revenue and Financing Policy
• Rates Setting and Rating Policies
• Liability Management Policy
• Investment Policy
• Policy on Partnerships with the Private Sector
• Policy on Significance

These Policies and Statements are part of the 2004 Draft Plan and, as with the rest of the Plan, you are encouraged to read them and let us know what you think of them by making a submission.

• Have we got things right?
• How could we improve?
• Expressions of support are welcome

Please note that, in accordance with the new Local Government Act, the Policy on Significance must be adopted by the Council by 1 July 2003 and the submissions on this policy will be considered by the Council on Thursday 26 June 2003. All other Draft Plan submissions will be considered at the Council meeting on 16 July 2003.

Conclusion

The Council remains committed to making progress towards its strategic outcomes of community cohesion and well-being, economic development and environmental sustainability.

Together these three outcomes will help improve the quality of life for all residents of the city.

Christchurch is a great place to live — let’s make it even better. To do this we need your input. Have Your Say and make a submission on this Draft Plan.