Councils in the Waikato region and across New Zealand are currently developing their plans for the next 12-36 months, through their Annual and Long Term Plans. Most people will be aware of the considerable pressure all councils are facing as their costs have increased over the past few years, driven by post-COVID increases in inflation, insurance and the cost of infrastructure.

As they have worked to develop balanced budgets and rates which are achievable and affordable, many for-purpose organisations are finding that their previous council-provide resources are being reduced or even stopped in some cases. While many of us see the headlines about double digit rate rises, the squeeze on community funding is an important consequence of this.

The WWP is a strong supporter of the significant role that local government plays in wellbeing leadership and delivery, and we work regularly with all councils across the region to facilitate and support positive change. We acknowledge the difficult decisions councils face, and are keen to make sure that the trade-offs and, in some cases, the unintended consequences of funding decisions are well understood by our elected representatives.

In that spirit of support, we have partnered with Community Waikato, Creative Waikato, GoEco, Seed Waikato and HMS Trust to make submissions to Hamilton City Council, Waikato and Waipa District Councils and Waikato Regional Council. This is in addition to individual submissions that these organisations have made to most of the local authorities in the region.

You can read our submissions here:

• Waikato Regional Council 

• Waikato District Council 

• Waipa District Council 

• Hamilton City Council- joint submission

• Hamilton City Council- WWP submission

Youth Employability Aotearoa (YEA) Open Letter- Rangatahi Support

In early May, we joined an open letter from YEA to the government, urging them to support the call for employability training to be delivered to all high school students. The letter can be seen here

Hamilton City Waste Strategy

In March we made a submission to Hamilton City Council’s draft Waste Minimisation Strategy