Annual Plans

Mahere ā-tau

The Council prepares a Long Term Plan every three years. In each of the two interim years, we prepare an Annual Plan. This determines the specific projects, resourcing and budgets for each year ahead. This is a statutory process defined by the Local Government Act 2002. 

Quick links

Annual Plan 2025-2026

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User fees and charges

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Development Contributions

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Community funding

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Past Annual Plans

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Any questions?

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Annual Plan 2025-2026

We'll be taking a more informal approach to engaging with the community on the proposed Annual Plan 2025-2026.

The decision was made by Councillors on 13 February, on the basis there are no significant changes from the Long Term Plan 2024-2034 that Councillors adopted unanimously five months ago after receiving nearly 1,000 submissions.   

What to expect

In late April, we'll publish the draft Annual Plan 2025-2026 and seek general feedback from the community ahead of adopting the plan in June 2025.

As part of this, we'll share some updates on progress since the Long Term Plan 2024-2034 was adopted, some key highlights from the draft Annual Plan and details for how you can provide feedback.   This feedback will be provided to Councillors to consider, but won't be subject to formal hearings and deliberations.   

You can expect to see information published here on the website, in local newspapers and on our social media channels.  

Looking ahead, we'll be running a separate early engagement process from November this year to give people a meaningful opportunity to put forward ideas for new projects or investments, to be considered in time for the Long Term Plan 2027-2037.  We'll provide more information closer to the time. 

Helpful links

Long Term Plan 2024-2034 circle-arrow-down Media release: Council decision on Annual Plan 2025-2026 consultation circle-arrow-down Council Report for 13 February meeting: Annual Plan 2025-2026 Consultation circle-arrow-down

User fees and charges

Council provides a range of user pays services throughout the district. These include services like processing building or resource consents, environmental health, access to sport and recreation or community facilities, venue hire, dog registration, and carparking.   

These fees and charges allow Council to pass on some costs to those who use and directly benefit from these services and facilities, reducing the amount of funding that needs to be collected through rates.

Consultation

Many of our user fees and charges must be reviewed and set ahead of the financial year starting.  And because we’re not formally consulting on the Annual Plan 2025-2026, we’ll run a separate consultation process from 21 March – 30 April.  

Full details can be found on Let's Talk and promoted to the community in the usual ways, including via local newspapers, social media and radio.  

Changes to Development Contributions

While not subject to the user fees and charges consultation, there have been some changes made to Development Contributions. 

Development Contribution fees help cover the capital costs for new infrastructure needed as the district grows.  This includes essential services like water, wastewater, stormwater, roads, community facilities, and green spaces. 

QLDC’s Development Contributions Policy guides how these fees are set. It is generally reviewed, consulted on and adopted every three years as part of the Long Term Plan (LTP) process. It was last reviewed and adopted as part of LTP 2024-2034. 

The Local Government Act 2002 allows Council to update the policy annually (ahead of the LTP process) to account for annual inflation, in line with the Producers Price Index (PPI) outputs for construction. The annual change between September 2023 and September 2024 was 2.4%. This has been used as a proxy for one year’s inflation as it is the latest data available at the time this work was prepared. 

Click on the button below for a table showings the changes to Development Contributions for 2025-2026, following the annual policy update.

Changes to Development Contributions 2025-2026 Updated Development Contributions Policy 2025-2026

Community funding

While the Annual Plan will not be subject to formal consultation, you can still apply for the following grants through a separate process:

  • Community Fund: Supports not-for-profits, charities and community groups to enhance local wellbeing outcomes. Open 1-30 April.

  • Events Fund: Helps deliver vibrant, inclusive events that benefit our community. Open 1-30 April.

  • Waste Minimisation Community Fund: Supports initiatives that promote sustainable use of resources and waste reduction. Open 14 April-25 May.

Mark your calendars and start preparing your applications!

Go to community funding page

Past Annual Plans

Any questions?

If you have a question on the Annual Plan process, or any of the info on this page, get in touch with us on the email address below: 

letstalk@qldc.govt.nz 

Related Content

What's in the Ten Year Plan?

The Annual Plan is completed in the years between a Ten Year Plan (which is every three years). Learn more about the Ten Year Plans here.

How we've performed

Based on the plans we deliver, see how the Council is performing in the Annual Report.

Airport Plans?

Want to know what the plans are for the district's airports? You can see the latest Statement of Intent fro Queenstown Airport Corporation here.