We hope a good number of our residents will join us tonight for the first of our community meetings on the draft Annual Plan for 2022-23.

It will be an opportunity to hear from the Mayor and wider Council about the discussions and decisions taken to this point, in what is universally acknowledged as a challenging year – thanks to covid-caused price rises and inflation.

The meeting will be live-streamed in the same way that our Council meetings and other hearings have been broadcast over the past year or so, via Facebook and YouTube. There will also be a link on our Itsourplace.nz website.

People do have the ability to ask questions and staff will be keeping an eye on the comments on both channels, passing on questions as they arise.

Three face-to-face meetings are planned next week – at the Ashburton Event Centre on Monday 11 April, at the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall in Methven on Tuesday 12 April and at the Rakaia Bowling Club on Wednesday 13 April.

Elected councillors will be at those meetings and these gatherings provide another opportunity for people to ask questions about the proposed budget and talk about their priorities and concerns.

There are other ways to be informed about the plan, which is available in full on our website and in summary form as part of the consultation document. People can also request consultation documents be sent to them in the mail.

Making a submission can be done online or on the form that is part of the consultation document, and Council will be accepting feedback until 5pm on Friday 6 May.

All submissions will be read by both staff and Councillors, and people who want to speak to Council in person will be able to do that at hearings on 24 and 25 May .

Councillors will then consider the feedback and may alter the draft Annual Plan. The final version will be adopted in late June, before the start of the 2022-23 financial year on 1 July.

Tonight's virtual meeting begins at 7pm. See itsourplace.nz for all meeting details.