Long-Term Plan 2025-2034

Buller District Council’s plan for the next nine years is called the Long-Term Plan (LTP), covering the years 2025–2034. It is Council’s guiding document, and it has an impact on everyone who lives in our district.

The LTP outlines Council's goals, what Council aims to do, and how we plan to pay for what we will deliver to our community. It also identifies the significant big-picture drivers behind our actions, which are captured in our vision, and the Community Outcomes. It gives the reasons behind what we do, includes the actions we commit to, tells you how much that will cost and how we plan to pay for it.

Have you ever wondered why Council invested in that water pipe? This document explains why, how much we intend to spend on it and when that pipe should go into the ground.

We revisit this document every three years and set the course for the following decade. The community was invited to provide feedback on any part of the Draft Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 during the consultation period between 25 April and 26 May 2025.

Council received 336 submissions on the Draft LTP 2025-2034 and 38 funding requests from a variety of community groups for one-off or annual funding. 60 people spoke to their submissions during the two days of hearings on 9-10 June, 22 in support of their funding requests, with the balance speaking to their individual LTP submissions.

Council has published the funding requests, individual submissions and a consultation report analysing the submissions on this page.

Deliberations were held on 11 and 12 June and resulted in the proposed general rates increase of 5.95% and a total rates movement of 6.43%. This indicative rate informed the preparation of the final Long-Term Plan document.

Buller District Council adopted the recommendation for a 6.43% increase in total rates for the 2025-2026 financial year at the full council meeting on 30 June, as part of the Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 approval process. The Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 takes effect on 1 July 2025.

We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback during this consultation. Councillors will review the submissions and hear from submitters to understand people’s concerns, suggestions, and feedback during the hearings and deliberations.

Buller District Council’s plan for the next nine years is called the Long-Term Plan (LTP), covering the years 2025–2034. It is Council’s guiding document, and it has an impact on everyone who lives in our district.

The LTP outlines Council's goals, what Council aims to do, and how we plan to pay for what we will deliver to our community. It also identifies the significant big-picture drivers behind our actions, which are captured in our vision, and the Community Outcomes. It gives the reasons behind what we do, includes the actions we commit to, tells you how much that will cost and how we plan to pay for it.

Have you ever wondered why Council invested in that water pipe? This document explains why, how much we intend to spend on it and when that pipe should go into the ground.

We revisit this document every three years and set the course for the following decade. The community was invited to provide feedback on any part of the Draft Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 during the consultation period between 25 April and 26 May 2025.

Council received 336 submissions on the Draft LTP 2025-2034 and 38 funding requests from a variety of community groups for one-off or annual funding. 60 people spoke to their submissions during the two days of hearings on 9-10 June, 22 in support of their funding requests, with the balance speaking to their individual LTP submissions.

Council has published the funding requests, individual submissions and a consultation report analysing the submissions on this page.

Deliberations were held on 11 and 12 June and resulted in the proposed general rates increase of 5.95% and a total rates movement of 6.43%. This indicative rate informed the preparation of the final Long-Term Plan document.

Buller District Council adopted the recommendation for a 6.43% increase in total rates for the 2025-2026 financial year at the full council meeting on 30 June, as part of the Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 approval process. The Long-Term Plan 2025-2034 takes effect on 1 July 2025.

We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback during this consultation. Councillors will review the submissions and hear from submitters to understand people’s concerns, suggestions, and feedback during the hearings and deliberations.

  • Council’s 2025-34 Long-Term Plan workshops underway

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    Buller District Council’s workshop programme for 2025 is in full swing, with the council meeting last Wednesday, 12 February for a public workshop to discuss the levels of service and fees and charges that will be set for the 2025-34 draft Long-Term Plan (LTP).

    One new initiative on the table this year is the possibility of introducing an annual residents’ survey, covering all facets of council activities, with the intention of using the feedback gathered to help inform the decision-making processes behind the development of significant documents such as the Long-Term Plan.

    Group Manager Corporate Services Paul Numan says: “The

    Buller District Council’s workshop programme for 2025 is in full swing, with the council meeting last Wednesday, 12 February for a public workshop to discuss the levels of service and fees and charges that will be set for the 2025-34 draft Long-Term Plan (LTP).

    One new initiative on the table this year is the possibility of introducing an annual residents’ survey, covering all facets of council activities, with the intention of using the feedback gathered to help inform the decision-making processes behind the development of significant documents such as the Long-Term Plan.

    Group Manager Corporate Services Paul Numan says: “The new levels of service and key performance indicators (KPIs) set will be based on council’s statutory obligations, and to keep things in perspective, council staff are considering how other councils around the country are choosing to approach these. Staff and councillors will then focus on what needs to be achieved, taking into account the Buller District’s own unique requirements.”

    Extensive work has been done to review council’s fees and charges, with each department forming their own strategy, for example the Regulatory Services team is considering adopting more of a user-pays approach.

    The draft version of these parameters will be presented to Council at the end of February. This will then help to finalise the draft LTP for adoption in March. After this, council will consult with the community in April, with a view to full adoption at the end of June.

    Council will meet for another workshop this Wednesday, 19 February to discuss its 30-year Infrastructure Strategy going forward, and the continuing implementation of Local Water Done Well.

    The overall LTP budget is currently under review after an initial workshop and discussions earlier this year. It will be brought back to council for discussion in the coming weeks. Buller District councillors have opted to keep the community outcomes in their LTP, despite central government’s intention to remove the four well beings (social, economic, environmental and cultural) from local government legislation.

    Group Manager Infrastructure Services Anthony Blom says: “Overall, council is preparing a back-to-basics budget, with a strong focus on key water and roading infrastructure projects. In late 2024, BDC’s Infrastructure team gave an outline of the specific projects that they plan to undertake in the 2025-34 LTP and has held a special projects workshop detailing these.”

    -ENDS-

    For further information please contact: 

    Community Engagement Team  
    Buller District Council 

    Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz  

    Disclaimer

    The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.