No big rates rises on the cards for the South Waikato in 2024

Thursday, 11 January 2024

South Waikato mayor Gary Petley said residents will not be facing another record rates rise this year.

South Waikato mayor Gary Petley says a repeat of last year’s record 18.5% rates increase was highly unlikely but the council was still in belt tightening mode.

Petley and South Waikato District Council chief executive Susan Law told the Waikato Times that they and the rest of the council had received a lot of flak over last year’s rates rise, but their decision to go ahead with it had put them in a much better position heading into 2024.

“We’re philosophical about where we landed, we have had staff working on a lot of things for the long-term plan, but have had to put the brakes on some things because of the uncertainty after the last [general] election.”

Tokoroa's Maraetai Road Intermodal Business Park development should help ease the rates burden on residents.

“The new mayor and council took the hits early last year with a sizeable rate increase but we are hopeful we have got ahead of the curve and won’t have to do the same thing again,” Law said.

“We needed that breathing space to look at our cost structure … and we need to live within our means,” she said.

While the council’s 2024 annual plan was far from ready for public consultation, Petley said the council would still have to tighten its belt.

John Watarawi had a list of suggestions about what the South Waikato’s council could fix in 2024.

But, major projects like the Maraetai Rd Intermodel Business Park were a positive with the sale of industrial and commercial land for future development providing additional revenue.

“It takes as long to transport goods [by rail] from Frankton in Hamilton to the Port of Tauranga than it does from here, but the difference is we are asking for $200 a square metre, not $2000 a square metre,” Law said.

“There have been discussions about the supply of local labour for these new businesses, which is another positive, and those discussions continue,” Petley said.

Tokoroa’s Nikki Smith said parking and the Leith Place toilets needed attention in 2024.

In terms of social housing, Petley said a proposal which would see up to 19 new homes, an inclusive playground, toilet block, and small carpark built on the Stanley Park reserve in central Tokoroa was well advanced.

He also hoped the recently closed Blue Spring walk in Putāruru would be reopened sooner rather than later but issues over land ownership were challenging.

“I think it’s fair to say the council is looking strongly at what it needs to do to move the dial from where South Waikato was, to where it needs to be,” Law said.

Reasonably new to the South Waikato is Geraldine Macmillan, who didn’t have a bad word to say about her new home town of Tokoroa.

“Over the past couple of decades that dial has not moved very much … for a CEO there are some quite exciting things the council is prepared to look at.”

Tokoroa local John Watarawi said fixing the Leith Place toilets, reintroducing angle parking on Leith Pl and bringing back Tokoroa’s visitor information centre would be his priorities for 2024.

“A lot of people who pass through town don’t even know there are toilets here, even when they are working,” he said.

Nikki Smith agreed with Watarawi and also said the council should try and employ more Kiwis rather than overseas officials.

“They should put angle parking back in. There are people crashing into cars every day,” she said.

Geraldine Macmillan moved from Taupō to Tokoroa about a year ago and loves her new home town.

“The people here are really nice and friendly … but we could probably do with more parks with activities for young people, there’s not a lot here for them,” she said.