Waikato district grows by over 4,500 in 2021/22 financial year as Council adopts Annual Report

Waikato District Council adopted its Annual Report and summary this week, following review from Audit New Zealand.

The Annual Report compares what Council did in the 2021/22 financial year with what was planned and budgeted for in our Annual Plan 2021-22.

Chief Executive, Gavin Ion, is pleased with the growth the Waikato district has continued to experience over the past year, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic only truly beginning to be felt.

“Our district continues to be a sought after place to live, with a population growth of over 4500 in the past twelve months.

“With an increase in population comes an increase in asset maintenance and upgrades”, says Mr Ion.

The Waikato District Alliance, a roading partnership between Council and Downer celebrated seven years of working together by resurfacing 87km of sealed roads, repairing 2,073 potholes and conducting extensive works on unsealed and high-volume roads across the district.

Our three waters partnership with Watercare entered its third year of improving the delivery of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services to the district. 

Council and Watercare conducted major upgrades on the Meremere Wastewater Treatment Plant, including the installation of a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) to increase efficiency of contaminant removal and deliver higher quality treated water.

Mr Ion is grateful to our invaluable partnerships to support upgrades and maintenance work. 

“Our Council is responsible for over $1.7 billion worth of assets, and we would not be able to effectively manage all of these without the support of our roading, three waters and other service delivery partners”, says Mr Ion.

Council undertook the statutory process of the Representation Review and adopted a final proposal including the establishment of two Maaori wards, aiming to increase representation of Maori in decision making processes.

The Joint Management Agreement (JMA) between Council, Waikato Tainui and Nga Wai o Waipa, strengthened relationships with iwi and hapu, with work also progressing on the inception of four mana whenua forums to enable regular connectivity.

To provide transparency with the community, councillor workshops were opened to the public, and online public meetings and workshops were offered to increase engagement opportunities where possible. 

Council also delivered on a variety of community projects works, re-homed 187 dogs, processed 2,246 building consents and 966 new dwelling consents, and committed more than $574,000 towards 68 local groups across the district.

You can read the full Annual Report and summary document on our website.

ENDS