Just the start: Mayor vows 'thin Marmite' for New Plymouth
- Craig Ashworth
- Feb 19
- 3 min read
New Plymouth’s new mayor has promised more financial filleting after winning almost unanimous support for a budget revamp that halves this year’s rates rise.
Mayor Max Brough met his self-imposed five percent rates cap and convinced all but one councillor to back his changes to the annual plan.
“If you thought this was easy today, you should see me filleting fish.”
Brough campaigned on restricting New Plymouth District Council rate increases to inflation-plus-one percent and landed a shade below his target of five percent.
“We’re trying to do more with less,” he told councillors debating the Annual Plan on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to spread the marmite thinner on the toast.”
Brough had directed staff to find multiple savings across the board and make sure all spending would give “bang for buck”.
His budget was death by a thousand cuts for the 2026-7 Annual Plan set by the previous council.
“It’s just the start,” said Brough after the meeting.
The new Annual Plan sees operating income drop $24 million to $272 million.
Operating expenses increase $12 million, so the last council’s surplus of $36 million disappears.
A bundle of last-minute changes landed on staff desks at 7:50am the day of the Annual Plan decision – provoking some grumbles from councillors.
In October’s election mayoral contenders warned Brough that capping rates income would bring cuts, delays and more debt.
But Brough won a clear victory at the polls and there was no coherent opposition to his sweeping changes, with most councillors deciding the new mayor had the balance about right.
Sam Bennett stood for mayor and was the only councillor to vote against Brough’s budget.
“What I'm deeply concerned about is we’re moving from 10.5 forecast down to 4.9,” Bennett said.
“I’m not confident … that the community understand the effects of that or the consequences of such a significant cut in our rates increase.”
Capital expenditure was pruned ten percent as managers conceded NPDC lacked capacity to deliver the planned $150 million of infrastructure and community facilities work.
Mayoral runner-up David Bublitz questioned deferring $55 million dollars-worth of capital work, doubtful that much extra work could be done in coming years.
Staff said decisions about delayed work, and about any new projects, would be made when councillors next reset NPDC’s 10-year plan.
NPDC’s debt is forecast to reach $523 million, $20 million higher than budgeted under the 10-year Long Term Plan.
Chief executive Gareth Green stressed the increase was solely attributable to $20 million the last council loaned its airport company after the 10-year budget was set, for a solar farm and runway realignment.
The mayor’s last-day changes included $500,000 for up to 1.5 kilometres footpaths on Waitara streets that have none – a long-standing sore point.
Green insisted the footpath boost had nothing to do with the $3 million budget cut for Te Pae o te Rangi, the coastal walkway extension to Waitara, which has also been delayed.
Brough praised NPDC’s new finance and planning manager John Scott, hired after embarrassing budget blunders last year.
Scott led the hands-on scrutiny of the books ordered by Brough, and the mayor thanked him, staff and fellow councillors.
“The credit goes to all of you for recognising that it was time for a paradigm shift with where we were going with rates and service.”
nā Craig Ashworth craig@tekorimako.co.nz
LDR is local body reporting hosted by Te Korimako o Taranaki and funded by Te Reo irirangi o Aotearoa and Irirangi te Motu
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