What even is a Long Term Plan or a Level of Service?
There’s confusion around the Levels of Service in the Long Term Plan (LTP), with references to being ‘outvoted’ during the LTP process. I want to make it clear that there was never a vote on whether we should change levels of service, or even a show of hands. All of the proposed Levels of Services changes were in our agendas provided by staff; and I presented a proposal to change the Level of Service for water leakage, which Councillors did vote on, and was passed.
By way of context, the Long Term Plan is Council’s 10 year budget that sets out what levels of service the community can expect us to deliver, what projects help achieve that and how they will be paid for. Because it is a complicated process, it takes over a year to put together and is audited at great expense by the Auditor General’s office. We completed the Council’s LTP in 2024.
This is different to an Annual Plan, which is effectively a review of the LTP, which incorporates any necessary changes of timing or projects in the two years between LTPs. It doesn’t require auditing in the same way, as it does not change the budgets or levels of service for an extended period of time.
There is some confusion around what is possible and how we decide what to do. I want to underline that there was no vote on whether or not to look at Levels of Service during our Long Term Plan last year, but it was voted on during the Annual Plan in 2023 on the recommendation of staff.
In fact - we did make many changes to Levels of Service during the LTP; they were put forward by staff and they were outlined in the consultation documents. However, the elected Council did not hold a meeting or workshop where we specifically discussed which ones we would like to change. The Levels of Service documents were attached to our workshop agendas, but not specifically bought up for discussion. This was frustrating and I believe that we would have all liked the opportunity to do that.
I did put forward an amendment to levels of service in the draft Long Term Plan in February 2024, we voted on it as Council and it was in the consultation documents. It was on our water pipes.
I proposed that we change the Level of Service to get leakage (currently at 27%) better than the ‘less than 25% leakage’ it currently is. I proposed that we aim for ‘less than 20% by 2030 and less than 15% by the end of the LTP in 2034.’ This was voted on by Council and passed.
It’s important to know the system and how to use it to get the changes you want to see at Council. It is the Mayor’s role to lead the development of Council plans and if I am elected Mayor this is how I would lead a discussion on the LTP.
Early engagement with the community that looks at what residents think matter most. I’d also provide good information about what Levels of Service are and how they impact rates and ask residents what LoS they would like to look at during the process.
At the same time, I’d have discussions with Councillors on their priorities and where they would like to see changes.
We’d bring both pieces of information together in open workshops so that we can get information on the impacts of those changes and put forward proposals for staff to incorporate into the draft LTP documents.
I propose that we put together three options, with different levels of service, projects and levels of rates, though we would legally need to have our preferred option to consult on. Other Councils have done this and so can we.
We do our consultation with the community on these proposals and go through the hearings process where residents can tell us in person what they think.
We put forward any changes to the LTP based on the community submissions and go through the audit process.
We make our decision on the 10 year Plan and communicate the plan, the changes we made and why to residents.
Additionally, the Mayor is able to put forward their own proposals for consideration by councillors and I would be putting forward several, including bringing back the central city shuttle to boost the central city and selling the Lichfield St carparking building to use that capital for other worthwhile projects like fixing our water pipes. I would like both of these to be considered by the community during consultation.
You’ve got to know how the system works to change it - and, while complicated, it’s vital that we have an elected Mayor and Councillors who understand how to navigate local government processes in order to get the best results for our community.
