TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY JUNE 19, 2025
Water Well Drilling services Water Well Maintenance / Cleaning Down hole CTV inspection
110 Jack Russell Drive, Te Awamutu Call Today 0800 DRILL4U / 0800 374 5548 On Call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week buwelldrillers.co.nz
teawamutunews.nz
FREE
JUNE 19, 2025
Mayor regrets plan pause By Mary Anne Gill
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan says pausing the council’s Long Term Plan (LTP) process last year in favour of a one-year one was wrong. She made the comments ahead of three days of LTP hearings, which began on Tuesday. The hearings included presentations from 42 of the 143 submitters. By later today (Thursday) the plan is expected to confirm average rate increases of 15.5, 10.7 and 6.9 per cent over the next three years.
These follow a 14.8 per cent increase last year - significant hikes for a council that traditionally avoids going beyond inflation. In an exclusive column for The News today, O’Regan said she had instructed staff to “sharpen their pencils” even further. “I wanted to be absolutely sure that every proposed dollar was necessary.” Reflecting on the decision to defer the LTP and adopt an enhanced annual plan instead, she acknowledged it was the wrong call.
“But you know, hindsight’s a beautiful thing, right? "At the time, we had hoped we would get greater clarity on a handful of things - and the reality is, we didn’t. Looking back, we probably ought not to have made that decision. “It was a unanimous decision, so we have to collectively take that one on the chin and deal with it,” she told The News. The decision added pressure to an already strained council grappling with rapid growth and rising debt, all in the lead-up to a
local body election and following an unfavourable Audit Office decision. O’Regan admitted to feeling under pressure personally but said she was elected mayor three years ago on a mandate of change both around the council table and within the organisation. “I always wanted to be a mayor that included and drew on the expertise of the people around the table and that is borne out through the course of the process.” She said elected members were involved at every stage
and unanimously supported the council’s direction. “It doesn’t mean to say that we all love where we’re at. “At the end of the day, we’re all human, we all want what’s right, the best things for our communities. “The fact is our collective decisions that were unanimous the whole way through have got us to where we’re at.” O’Regan described Waipā’s unprecedented growth and unusually high inflation as a
Continued on page 5
Star performers
Te Awamutu Intermediate School’s kapa haka group perform the haka on Monday for Jetstar JQ165 passengers from Sydney on the first international flight to Hamilton Airport in 13 years. The News reports on a significant day on page eight today. More photos teawamutunews.nz. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
MATARIKI
Sale
20% off storewide 18-22 June ‘25
excludes payment By Farmlands card & account
Residential • Rural Commercial • Tennis Courts 469 Bond Road Te Awamutu 07 870 6328
2 Oliver Street Cambridge
(opposite Mitre 10 Mega)
Ph 07 834 3553
Mon– Fri 9am – 5pm Sat 9-4pm | Sun 10-3pm
@HuntingandFishingCambridge www.huntingandfishing.co.nz