Message from Mayor David Trewavas

We all know the Taupō District is a great place to live, work and play.

We have an amazing natural environment, a rich cultural heritage, and vibrant communities all around our district, with a strong economic base centred around geothermal, tourism, forestry and farming

In the last year we’ve seen some new and exciting projects, such as the Tūrangitukua Park Sports Facility get underway and some significant ones, such as the Taupō Town Centre Transformation Project, and the new Taupō Airport terminal, completed.

But there is no denying that for all of us – Council as well as our community – these are difficult economic times and challenges lie ahead for us in the upcoming financial year. Here you can read more about those challenges and how we plan to tackle them in a practical and achievable way.

We are acutely conscious that our community is facing a cost-of-living crisis, grappling with soaring inflation and rising interest costs. Council faces the same difficulties.

Please take the time to read through through the Annual Plan process, our rates challenge and the other Draft Annual Plan pages here and have your say on the issues we have highlighted. We want to hear from you, our community, on whether you think we have this right, and what is important to you and your whānau.

Ki te kotahi te kākaho, ka whati; ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati. If a reed stands alone, it can be broken; if it is in a group, it cannot. Translated, this means when we stand alone we are vulnerable, but together we are unbreakable.

As a district and as a community, we stand together in our determination to make this a great place to live for ourselves, for our children and for our children’s children.

Ngā mihi mahana kia a koutou katoa, warm regards to you all.