Draft Annual Plan and Fees and Charges consultation timeline approved
At the meeting (Thursday 5 March 2026), Council approved the timetable for the Draft Annual Plan Update and Schedule of Fees & Charges 2026/27 public consultation, as follows:
28 March (Saturday) – Consultations to begin.
28 April (Tuesday) – Consultations end.
7 May - Council meeting for verbal feedback hearings.
21 May – Council meeting to make decisions for final Annual Plan and Fees and Charges Schedule for 2026/27.
25 June – Council meeting to adopt Annual Plan 2026/27 Update and set rates.
The timeline was pushed out from the 9 March start date as first proposed because of time and resource constraints.
This is an opportunity for residents, ratepayers and stakeholders to have their say and give general feedback on a range of topics such as like rates, rural water, and the Milton Centennial Pool hours for 2026/27.
Temporary road closures
Council has approved temporary road closures for upcoming motorsport/rally events (run under approved traffic management plans):
• Otago Rally 2026 - Saturday 11 April and Sunday 12 April
The road closure schedule is on page 11-12 of the Council agenda: Council Meeting agenda - 5 March 2026.pdf.
Although the annual event is well known and publicised by the organisers (Otago Sports Car Club) and Council, it was noted at the meeting that some of the affected residents were not personally notified or spoken to regarding the event. It was agreed to improve this process going forward.
• Popotunoa Rallysprint - Saturday 28 March 2026 from 8.30am to 7pm.
This event (run by Eastern Southland Car Club) involves the temporary closure of Pomahaka Downs Road and Wairuna Settlement Road.
• Lawrence Quarter Mile - Saturday 29 March or if wet, Sunday 30 March, from 9am to 5pm.
This event (run by Otago Sports Car Club) involves the temporary closure of Wetherstons, Waipori and Bloy roads.
Improvements to child safety at schools
• St Mary’s School, Milton
Council has approved installation of a dedicated painted bus park at St Mary’s School, Dryden Street, Milton, to improve child safety and reduce congestion.
A request for variable timed signage to restrict parking during school start and end times, while allowing for public use at other times, was also approved.
Council agreed to install and fund the bus park, which will cost $750.
• Stirling School
Stirling School has been granted a request for a mobility park to ensure the safety of a student with limited mobility, because of congestion outside the school.
Council agreed to install a time-restricted mobility park, with the school funding the initial installation cost ($5,650), and Council funding ongoing maintenance.
2025 Triennial Elections report
A report was received on the 2025 Triennial Elections from Electoral Officer Dale Ofsoske, who recently met and reviewed the process with key Council staff.
The elections of Saturday 11 October 2025 were run under contract by Independent Election Services Ltd for the Clutha District Council, Otago Regional Council, Clutha Licensing Trust, and to a limited extent, Mataura Licensing Trust, along with Gore and Districts Health Incorporated. These were conducted successfully and met all legislative and practical requirements.
It was remarked at the meeting that the strategically placed orange ballot boxes/voting bins had proven very successful and contained the highest proportion of votes, compared with the other methods of voting, in the last week of the election, which contributed to the 53.4% (6,614 people) voter return. Note: Clutha District Council was one of 15 councils with over 50% of the population voting compared with the national average of 33%.
CDC top scorers in Customer Experience Benchmarking Survey
Council has placed second overall in a New Zealand customer experience benchmarking survey.
At the end of 2025, Council was advised that at the 2025 Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) awards, it had placed in the top ten Councils in 2025 delivering an excellent customer experience.
Each year, ALGIM ‘mystery shops’ every council in the country, giving an idea of how a council's service compares with the rest of the country.
After requesting an individual report, Council learned it had placed second in New Zealand, recording an exceptionally strong overall customer experience result and an overall score of 97.6%. This result places the Council:
• Second nationally among all New Zealand councils and council-controlled organisations
• First of the six councils in the Otago region and,
• Second of the 54 district councils and firmly within the upper national quartile.
Key insights overall performance Clutha District Council demonstrated consistently high customer experience outcomes across all measured channels.
Areas of strength performance was particularly strong across online portal and phone channels, with excellent outcomes also evident for email.
The focus going forward present a primary opportunity to protect and sustain excellence, ensuring strong results were maintained as service demands evolved.
A copy of the full report is available HERE.
December organisational performance update
Making CDC a great place to work by having a strong internal capability, team culture, and performance, continues to be the impetus behind investment in Clutha Stars – Council’s Performance Excellence Framework for staff.
The programme was introduced in late 2023 with six monthly reporting to Council. Each organisational performance update draws together departmental results and key performance indicators that reflect overall organisational health and progress.
Chief Executive Steve Hill said Councils typically invest 2% of the staff training budget into such initiatives. Organisational Performance Improvement Manager Christina Johnston said Council had invested $250,000 in the first year of the Clutha Stars programme and $200,000 in the second.
Each quarter, departments report against core organisational performance areas, which include:
• Statutory Requirements and Targets
• Leadership, Employee Engagement and Commitment
• Health and Safety
• Organisational Performance (Clutha Stars)
• Customer Satisfaction
• Financial Performance
• Organisational Performance Improvement Update.