Merry Christmas Nelson!

Nelson has faced a challenging 2023 with households and businesses feeling the squeeze from decades-high inflation and hikes in interest rates. I am proud of how our community has responded with so many groups setting up to help our most vulnerable residents through these difficult times.

Council work has been dominated by the aftermath of the August 2022 storm – fixing the roads, water mains, pathways and reserves. The toughest problem is the hundreds of landslides. We are ahead of schedule on the repairs and have secured a Government support package that reduces our net cost to $59.8 million. We will be consulting next year, as part of the Long Term Plan, on a $330 annual levy over a decade to meet this cost.

A big achievement in 2023 was the introduction of the new eBus service on 1 August. This is the type of practical work we need to do to address climate change. I am hugely encouraged by the 71% growth in patronage and have my eye on a million passenger trips by 2025.

We also got on with fixing the Elma Turner Library and it will be fully reopened on 17 January. The discovery of contaminated sawdust at our iconic Tāhunanui Beach is the headache we did not need but we aim to have it cleaned up next year.

I am excited about the potential for 2024. There is a discussion to have on the revitalisation of our CBD, consultation on our 10-year Long Term Plan and the prospect of a City Infrastructure Deal with the new Government.
My thanks to Councillors, our NCC staff team and the community for all you do to make Nelson such a great place. I wish all Nelsonians a Merry Christmas, a safe holiday break and a Happy New Year.

Best wishes,
Mayor Nick