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A majority of Environment Canterbury councillors support increasing their rates by up to 24.5 per cent. A South Canterbury based Environment Canterbury councillor believes its draft Long Term Plan, which also includes steep rate rises, does not go far enough environmentally. Dr Elizabeth McKenzie said “we have an unprecedented budget because we live in unprecedented times” during debate on its draft LTP which proposes a 24 per cent rates increase for the 2021-22 financial year, a 9 per cent increase for the following year and an average of about 4 per cent annually for the remaining eight years of the plan. “Restoring our environment doesn’t come cheap,” McKenzie said. ....
George Heard/Stuff Environment Canterbury s long-term plan will be open for public consultation from next month. (File photo) At a meeting on Thursday, regional councillors voted to send the plan out for public consultation, which will begin next month. All 14 councillors, along with two Ngāi Tahu representatives, gave speeches outlining their views on the proposals. Cr Peter Scott, also the deputy chair, said residents were surprised by the headline numbers and a majority were angry and annoyed. But the changes were just proposals and “a lot of water [has] got to go under the bridge” before final decisions were made, he said. He urged residents with concerns to get in touch with him. ....