Plans

The Council's Annual Plan for 2016/17, including work programmes for the coming year and amendments to the 10-Year Plan 2015-2025.

The Council's Annual Plan for 2017/18, including work programmes for the coming year and amendments to the 10-Year Plan 2015-2025.

The Council's Annual Plan for 2020/21, including work programmes for the coming year and amendments to the Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

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The Council's Annual Plan for 2022/23(PDF, 4MB) including work programmes for the coming year and amendments to the Long Term Plan 2021-2031.

Key decisions made by Council in this year’s Annual Plan include agreeing to:

• Introduce a kerbside recycling service from 1 July 2023
• Introduce kerbside food waste service from 1 July 2024. 

After hearing community submissions, councillors voted to lower the cost of kerbside services by 20 percent (using central government funding from waste levies).

• Read our press release about the decision.
• Read the most commonly asked questions on the kerbside services(PDF, 710KB)

Other key decisions made by council at is deliberations on 26 May 2022 include:

• Reducing the debt retirement rate to zero for 2022/23. 
• Increasing the stormwater rate for serviceable properties and properties in Magnolia Crescent, Simon Street and Morell Street to 75% of the rate for a fully serviced property from 1 July 2022.
• Confirming the changes to Splash Centre fees and charges for 2022/23 as outlined in the supporting information to the Draft Annual Plan 2022/23.
• Approving the removal of general rates as a funding source for kerbside service set-up costs in 2022/23 in the Revenue and Financing Policy 2022.
• Requesting the Chief Executive to provide a report to the ICCEMT Committee on the matter of road safety infrastructure on Seafront Road and the Seafront Road playground, and on the matter of Rimu and Puriri St roading safety improvements.
• Approving the adjustment of the funding split between the general rate and CBD rates for the Mainstreet CBD maintenance contract to maintain the CBD targeted rate to similar levels as set for 2021/22.
• Approving the use of $25,000 of the existing Climate Change Fund for the promotion of the high frequency bus trial in 2022/23. 

The council's Annual Plan 2023/24, including our work programmes for the coming year, can be found here(PDF, 68MB)

Some of the big decisions made by the council in this year’s Annual Plan include:

• keeping the Rotokawau Virginia Lake Aviary open and funding immediate remedial works, as well as investigating options for enhancing the aviary for consideration in the Long-Term Plan 2024-2034 (see media release here)
• a number of cuts and deferrals(PDF, 735KB) to budgets across the council's work programmes in order to keep the rates rise as low as possible
• a rates rise of 8.3%, due to increased costs to deliver the council's services. Following the adoption of the plan, the rates rise was revised down to 7.9% due to there being a higher number of new properties in the district than expected. The additional growth has helped to reduce the rates increase for existing properties (see media release here)

After hearing community submissions on the Annual Plan, councillors also decided to:

• reinstate $50,000 of the climate change budget to commission a district-specific risk and threat assessment
• increase the Whanganui Surf Lifesaving Club annual grant by $15,000
• refer a number of requests to the community initiatives process for the Long-Term Plan 2024-34.

An annual plan is produced in the two years between each Long Term Plan. The annual plan sets out how the council’s work programme will be funded over the next financial year and outlines any key changes to the long-term plan for that year.

Based on feedback and guidance from our community, the final Annual Plan 2025/26 was adopted on 26 June 2025. 

View the full Annual Plan document(PDF, 5MB)

Key decisions

• Affordable housing - Due to the overwhelming support received from the community, the council will continue to explore opportunities to create a standalone entity to grow and improve Whanganui’s housing stock (see page 6 for more information).
• Repaying debt - Given the strong level of support expressed by the community, it was confirmed that the council will proceed with the additional loan repayment of $590,000 on top of existing repayments (see page 6 for more information).
• Strategy for Whanganui - With clear support expressed by the community, the council will consider the submissions and feedback received and these will inform any minor changes made prior to adoption (see page 6 for more information).

Rates rise for 2025/26

We predicted a 6.6% rates increase for the 2025/26 year in our long-term plan. Through a series of decisions that are outlined in the final annual plan document (see page 8), we have managed to get this down to an average rates increase of 2.2%. This represents the average rise across all sectors – commercial, farming and residential.

The Castlecliff Coastal Reserve Management Plan will guide the management of the Reserve for the next ten years and provide an outline of the Council's intentions for the reserve.

Overview including Community Outcomes - The next 10 years plus detailed activities, financial information and Council policies.

Overview including Community Outcomes - The next 10 years plus detailed financial information and Council policies.