Waikato District Council welcomed our new CEO Craig Hobbs with a powhiri early this month.
Craig’s past experience includes roles as CE of South Waikato District Council and most recently director of regulatory services at Auckland Council. Other past roles include CEO of Paralympics NZ, and CEO of the National Maritime Museum.
After 21 years with WDC, outgoing CEO Gavin Ion will stay on until June, leading development of a new Waters CCO (council-controlled organisation) with Hamilton City for public consultation later this year.
New roading contractors
New roading contracts for the district have been let to Fulton Hogan (in the south of the district) and Higgins (in the north) starting from July this year. Tenders were judged on value for money, flexibility, and planning/scheduling to deliver efficiency and responsiveness. The Waikato District Alliance contract with Downer finishes at the end of June.
Telephone Rd rail crossing
NZTA has begun work on a package of improvements to the rail crossing and adjacent Telephone Rd-Holland Rd intersection that will allow Telephone Rd to reopen to through traffic by the middle of this year. The road level will be raised over a distance of 90 metres and new escape lanes built to improve safety at the crossing. The crossing has previously been considered one of the most dangerous in NZ and was closed after an incident three years ago when a section of track was dislodged by a low-slung vehicle.
Long Term Plan
After three days of workshops on the Long Term Plan (LTP) 2025-34, the Council met again this month to adopt the draft plan for public consultation in March-April. Hearings and deliberations will be in May and the final plan adopted in June.
Subject to consultation, the draft plan is based on a general rate (GR) increase of just 4.25% for the first year (2025/26), before falling to an increase of 3.05% in 2026/27, then 2.7% and less in subsequent years. (These rates exclude public transport costs which will be rated directly by the Waikato Regional Council from 2025/26.)
This represents hard work by staff to find savings, and comes despite early LTP budget indications last year that a 13.75% GR increase this year would be followed by several 6% annual rises, and despite the council using reserves to keep the increase to 11.9% this year (below average for councils around the country).
Nevertheless, rates affordability in our townships remains a major concern. Costs have risen 20% overall since preparation of the last LTP (2021-31), with rising compliance costs putting extra pressure on targeted rates, especially for water and wastewater services. This means overall rates (general and targeted rates together) in general residential areas could rise between 7.8% and 10.8% in the first year, compared with about 6.2% in country living areas and 4.2% in rural areas, where properties are not subject to significant targeted rates. (A waters CCO will eventually bring relief to those on targeted waters rates, but it will take 5-10 years to realise the full benefits.)
Applications open for Creative Communities Scheme
This Creative NZ-sourced fund is designed to support art activities that celebrate our unique district, with a goal to increase participation in local arts (defined as all forms of creative and interpretative expression). Applications for funding are open until 5pm, Thursday 6 March 2025. For more info go to www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/funding.
Contact your Tamahere-Woodlands Councillors:
Crystal Beavis, mob 0275 957 927, email
Mike Keir, mob 027 449 3012, email
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