It was a year where the Thames-Coromandel District Council 'started a lot, we finished a little and the Long Term Plan became our life,” says chief executive David Hammond.

Today the TCDC released the Annual Report 2014-15 which provides an overview of what the district council has achieved or set in motion over the last 12 months.

David says it's been a busy year for the council, with the adoption of the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan plus continuing work on its anchor projects.

These include the Coromandel Harbour Facilities, Great Walks and Word War One Memorial Forest projects, plus Stage Two of the Rail Trail from Kopu to Kaiaua.

In regards to operational finances, revenue and expenses both came in within 2 per cent of what had been budgeted overall.

While council's deficit at the end of the financial year (30 June 2015) of about $1.6 million was more favourable than planned by about $1.2m.

Capital expenditure was also about $10m less than the $24.4m forecast, but not because the council put off upgrading or replacing assets, explains David.

'Rather, some spending was delayed because of complexities around consenting or to confirm value for money,” he adds.

'We have been good at identifying projects and infrastructure, good at securing money for them, but underestimating the complexity and consenting timeframes.”

Audit New Zealand recognised the amount of budgeted spending carried forward has been greatly reduced from a number of years ago.

'We know there is more work to do in this area and we have tightened our focus on planning and budgeting,” says David

In terms of the future, the district council is investigating the state of its underground assets, such as water works, so it can better budget future spending.

EXAMPLES OF DEFERRED SPENDING:

Image: TCDC

SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS FROM 2014/15:

Image: TCDC

LAST TCDC ANNUAL REPORT FOR MAYOR GLENN LEACH

The Annual Report 2014/15 will be the last for mayor Glenn Leach who has announced he will not be running for a third term in the October 2016 local election.

After two terms in office, Glenn says six years is long enough and disputes media reports that he was not standing again because the role is too 'ruthless” or 'tiring”.

Glenn says during his time as mayor he helped build up 'a really strong star team, not a team of stars” and points to what the council achieved since he was first elected in 2010:

• A reinvigorated commitment to community empowerment through the Community Boards and strengthened local Council area offices
• Keeping the average District rate increase to 0.7 per cent since 2010
• Lowering development contributions
• Lowering Council's debt by paying off outstanding debt from the three eastern seaboard wastewater treatment plants
• Project management and business improvement systems now in place
• Significant progress on anchor projects including the Great Walks, the WWI Memorial Forest and the Hauraki Rail Trail Kopu to Kaiaua extension