Mayoral update

with Dan Gordon

I hope you all had a wonderful April.

It’s a busy month, we launch into Autumn with Easter, School Holidays and of Course Anzac Day.

I attended some wonderful Anzac Day services in the District. It is such a special time of year for me, it’s a time where my family and I reflect on the service of my Great-Grandfather in WWI and Grandfather in WWII.

It’s also a time where we come together as a community and collectively pay our respects to the young service men and women from our District, who served in past wars and in present day conflicts. We are forever grateful, and we will remember them always.

I also attended the Oxford A&P Show - it really is fantastic to be back enjoying the shows after Covid-19 severely hindered them in recent years. It was a great day out, watching town and country come together, enjoying some of that famous Oxford hospitality and seeing agricultural and pastoral excellence across all aspects of the industry.

I’d like to congratulate this year’s president Steve Macaulay and the show committee on another successful event.

Submissions have recently also closed on the Draft Annual Plan.

We started this Draft Annual Plan with a proposed rates increase of 14.4% and have gone through our programme looking for savings and at what projects we can defer to keep increases as low as possible.

Oxford

Community Trust

We had a goal of keeping increases under the inflation rate of 7.2% and the Local Government cost index which is consistently higher than the consumers price index (CPI). We are pleased to report we have reviewed our programme extensively and managed to cap our proposed rates significantly lower than forecasted at an average of 5.97%.

But importantly it also ensures any critical work isn’t put off for too long and we can progress with meeting new water regulations, improving the stormwater network, and ensuring our roads continue to be well maintained.

Your feedback is important to help inform the decisions Council makes when planning for the District’s future. The best way to ensure your voice is heard and your point of view considered, is by making a submission. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to do so.

Council will meet in early May to consider the feedback received on those issues and hear from submitters before making changes to the final plan which will be adopted in June.

We Strive To Be The Best ~ Canterbury Owned & Operated

•Domestic & Commercial Weekly Cleaning

•Builder’s Cleans

•Rental & Moving House Cleans

•Walls, Ceilings and Ovens

•Domestic & Commercial Windows