BRADEN FASTIER / STUFF
The Waimea Community Dam (file photo).
The Waimea Community Dam costs again came under fire from submitters to the Tasman District Council’s draft annual plan.
Property developer Gaire Thompson told the second day of plan hearings on Wednesday that $18.75 million of the forestry surplus being used to further fund the dam which could have gone to general rates was “not on”.
“I think it is totally unfair on all the outlying areas, Golden Bay, Motueka, St Arnaud, Murchison, all these areas which are paying and not getting any benefit at all.”
Long time dam opponent Colin Garnett said the council had a liability of $36.4m for the Waimea Community Dam of debt located in Waimea Water Ltd, but that wasn’t “on the council’s balance sheet”.
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“It’s really hard to tell the loan situation here at this council,” he said.
Councillor Mark Greening said Garnett alluded to the debt situation around the dam being “not as clear as it should be”, and that “the numbers didn’t seem to add up”.
Greening asked staff for “clarity” for Garnett around these figures.
On Thursday the council will discuss behind closed doors an item titled “Waimea Community Dam – Cost Overrun Funding Negotiation Outcome”.
Waimea Water/Supplied
An aerial view of the Waimea Community Dam under construction in the Lee Valley, about 36km southeast of Nelson. Filmed on November 1, 2022.
Among other issues raised on Wednesday, councillor Christeen Mackenzie said councillors had heard a number of requests for increased funding, and asked if there was any “steer”.
“I might be sitting here thinking, look, I think there are some genuine requests that need to be met, but I don’t actually have a desire to increase rates further. So therefore in the deliberations report, I would be wanting you to bring me some options for how to maybe meet some requests and keep rates the same.”
Team leader community policy Alan Bywater said the council didn’t have “a live model” where they could “punch a number in and see the effects on rates”.
“If there’s some additional things you want to put in there, we would have to go away and work out the rate impact.”
Braden Fastier/Stuff
Tasman District Council councillor Kit Maling said council needed to think “long and hard” about enterprise profits being 75% reinvested.
Councillor Kit Maling questioned the enterprise policy which had 75% of profits being reinvested and 25% being used to reduce rates or costs.
Profits and net profits this year from enterprise had been “considerable”, he said.
“I think that’s something we need to think long and hard about going forward, because if we’ve made considerable amount of money from enterprises, and to me, we’re only enterprises for one reason – to reduce rates … It shouldn’t only be going back into reinvestment.
“In the past we’ve been banking it, because we’ve got a bill to pay for the dam, but my understanding is we could use that going forward.”
The council will enter into deliberations on the annual plan on May 31. The final annual plan is set to be adopted on June 22.