There is a new closing date of Thursday 25 May (at 5pm) for submissions to the Waikato District Council on a proposed targeted rate to help progress the development of walkways and support restoration of the native ecology within the Mangaone, Mangaharakeke and Mangaonui (Tamahere) gully network through a joint approach with the Tamahere Mangaone Restoration Trust.
Targeted rate proposed
The Council proposes to help fund this gully restoration work by means of a targeted rate of $1 per week ($52 per year) per property in the former (pre-2022) Tamahere Ward area over a five-year period. If the targeted rate is approved, it would mean that the Tamahere walkway project would also be able to be completed earlier than anticipated.
If you haven’t already made a submission, I encourage you to take advantage of the extended consultation period to do so.
Tamahere ‘Blueprint’ priority
Restoration and walkway development within the Tamahere gully network was identified by the local Tamahere community as a top priority through the development of a Council ‘blueprint’ for the area, and the Tamahere Community Committee has supported this initiative to introduce a targeted rate for this purpose.
The Tamahere Mangaone Restoration Trust has a decade of gully restoration experience in this area and I invite you to go to the Trust’s website to find out more about their work and this project.
Consultation with the community on this proposal opened last month (6 April) and will now close at 5pm on Thursday 25 May. The reason for the extension is to ensure the community is also aware of the proposed general rate increase of 7% for the coming year (find out more at www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz) and to have an opportunity to check what impact this may have on their rates through the Council’s online rates information database.
Have your say!
I encourage you to use this opportunity to have your say and to help provide the Council with a clear indication of the combined wishes of the community. While the Tamahere walkway project can be funded out of general rates, gully restoration to enhance the walkway experience is not within the Council’s agreed levels of service and therefore needs to be funded through a targeted rate that is separately agreed with the community who will benefit from the work. To make your submission please go to the Waikato District Council’s consultation website here. (A map of the former Tamahere Ward area in which the proposed targeted rate would be applied can be found on this site.)
Contact your Tamahere-Woodlands Councillors:
Crystal Beavis, mob 0275 957 927, email
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