Councillors have now adopted the Annual Plan 2025/26, which sets out what the Council intends to do over the next 12 months, and how it will pay for it.

Notable items in this Annual Plan include...

  • Operational spending of $871 million on the day-to-day services the Council provides. This is $9.7 million higher than proposed in the Draft Annual Plan, driven by changes in the wider economy and policy decisions made by the Government.
  • Capital spending of $648 million in 2025/26 including approximately $95.5 million for One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha. This is $88.2 million lower than what was proposed, due mostly to rephasing $71.5 million to later years based on what we can realistically deliver. 
  • An overall average rates increase of 6.60% – lower than the 7.58% proposed in the Draft Annual Plan. This translates to a 6.49% increase for the average household (or $4.96 a week), 7.0% for business properties, and 6.49% for rural properties. 

Read more on Newsline.(external link)

Read more about the Plan

The Annual Plan 2025/26

Read the approved Annual Plan 2025/26 in full. [PDF, 11 MB]

You can also read the Annual Plan 2025/26 chapter by chapter:

The Draft Annual Plan 2025/26

Read the consultation document [PDF, 6.8 MB] for an overview of the Draft Annual Plan 2025/26. You can also read the Draft in full here [PDF, 4.9 MB], or chapter by chapter:

Read the guidance(external link) on the development of the Draft Annual Plan from 10 December 2024.

You can also read all the public submissions, the thematic analysis of them, and responses from Council staff: