Proposed rates rise not as bad as it looks, Environment Canterbury chairwoman says

Friday, 26 March 2021

Environment Canterbury chairwoman Jenny Hughey says the average Christchurch resident will pay just $1.55 extra a week.

The average Christchurch resident will see a 3 per cent rise in regional council rates, if a proposed 24.5 per cent average hike across Canterbury is approved.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is proposing increasing rates by either 24.5 per cent or 18 per cent, to cover the fallout of the Government’s new freshwater regulations.

This would be on top of district council rate rises, such as Christchurch City Council’s proposed five per cent increase, leaving many concerned about the combined toll on ratepayers.

However, ECan chairwoman Jenny Hughey said the 24.5 per cent increase is a region-wide average, and the actual dollar figure would be comparatively little for most Cantabrians, especially those living in Christchurch.

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Environment Canterbury is proposing a preferred rates increase of 24.5 per cent.

“For an average house in Christchurch, worth $580,000, the increase is about $1.55 a week.”

For that home, the total rates payable under ECan’s higher proposed increase would be $519.95 a year, or around $10 each week.

That is $80.40 more than they are paying in the 2020/21 financial year.

The Waimakariri Flood Protection Project will help protect more than $8 billion of infrastructure in Canterbury if a major flood hits. (First published in August 2019)

By comparison, an Ashburton farm worth $4.96 million, the total rates payable under the higher proposed increase would be $4678.37, a much steeper increase of $735.85 a year.

The difference is down to targeted rates, Hughey said, many of which focus on tackling Canterbury’s big issues.

For Christchurch homes, the catchment rate is only a tiny sliver of the pie at $8.76 a year, while for the Ashburton farm, it is $2039.10 a year.

A catchment is an area of land, and all the water that moves through it. A large part of the money collected from catchment rates is used for flood protection and infrastructure.

Swannanoa preschool being awarded its silver Enviroschools award – there are 40 schools on the ECan’s watiing list for the programme.

“[The high rural catchment rate] is because they’ve got a big property, and a big catchment, and they’re making money out of the catchment … It has to be protected, but there’s not so many people living there.

“That’s why it’s lower in cities like Christchurch, because there’s more people to pay for the stop banks we’ve put in.”

She said that targeted rate could be a matter of life and death.

“In Christchurch, our lives are at stake if we don’t pay for the secondary stop banks on the Waimakariri River… It’s not so long ago that the Waimakariri broke its banks, going back a hundred years or so it came right through Christchurch.

“We have to protect the lives of everybody here in the future, by paying out a couple of dollars.”

People often assume flood protection work comes from civil defence funding, Hughey said, but that is not the case, and ECan needs to build up cash reserves in case of a disaster.

A lot of ECan's work is also about protecting and restoring the environment.

“Nature is in crisis … we can’t live without nature.”

Many of the differences between the two rate options would mean environment and wellbeing programmes miss out.

The Me Uru Rākau program, council’s tree planting and regeneration initiative, would see funding plummet from $1m to just $100,000, and Enviroschools support would also be slashed.

“You can see it as the bottom line. If we really want to protect our planet, what are we each doing about it?

“Why can’t we just spend $1.55 to have Enviroschools in every school? Why can’t we help all the community plant more trees? It’s not a big contribution to do that.”

Hughey said there needs to be a shift from the mindset that rates are a burden.

“Rates are not a burden. They’re a way of supporting ourselves and our future generations to save the planet, and live a prosperous life in New Zealand.

“It’s time to bite the bullet really, and make a contribution maybe a little bit greater than you have in the past, and do it willingly.”

Cantabrians can make submissions on ECan's draft long-term plan, and the proposed rates increase, until April 11.

There is also an online tool available on the ECan website, so residents can calculate what the rates increases would look like for their household.