At the Extraordinary Council Meeting on 16 June the elected members made a number of key decisions.
Annual Plan Engagement Feedback
Councillors received all the feedback provided by the community on the key elements of the Annual Plan 2026/27 the recent engagement activities. They then considered their final budget decisions in light of that feedback.
The elected members then directed staff to prepare the final Annual Plan 2026/27 based on the decisions they made at the Council meetings on 7 April and 26 May 2026, noting that there would be some minor amendments to the Schedule of Fees and Charges.
Updated Fees and Charges for 2026/2027
Councillors adopted an updated Fees and Charges Schedule to take effect from 1 July 2026. This schedule outlines the fees payable for council services. Councillors had previously directed that a 3.1% inflationary adjustment would be applied across the board, which was signalled through the Annual Plan process.
Long Term Plan 2027-20237
All Councils are required by legislation to create and adopt a Long-Term Plan 2027–37 by 30 June 2027. At this meeting Councillors considered the work programme required to achieve that deadline. They also:
- Agreed to continue to keep communication from central government of impact of reforms on robustness on the Long Term Plan, especially from year 3 onwards.
- Approved a structured, governance-led LTP programme as outlined in this report, with clear milestones, integrated workstreams, early audit engagement, and consideration of current reforms. This option best supports statutory compliance, informed decision-making, and credible community consultation
- Confirmed the development of the Long-Term Plan 2027-37 (LTP37) and the key decision milestones for its development as outlined in the report.
- Agreed that while preparing the LTP 37 they will remain open to transition and any new structure that may come from the simplifying local government process.
The full agenda for this meeting and the video is available from Council’s website HERE