South Wairarapa District Council is firmly committed to greater transparency with the community and welcomes new performance metrics made available to the public by the Department of Internal Affairs this month.

“We are all about working for the community and a strong part of our work is building trust with our residents about the work we do as a council across the vast district we all call home. These metrics give residents a chance to see exactly how our spend compares with that of comparably sized councils – Small Provincial and Rural Councils, with populations of less than 30,000 people,” says Stefan Corbett, SWDC Corporate Services Group Manager.

“We definitely punch above our weight in terms of resources,” says Corbett. “We have 69 full time equivalent staff against a group median of 87, with comparable councils. This costs SWDC $6,217,000 against the median with comparable councils of $7,541,000.”

South Wairarapa has a population of approximately 12,000 people spread across 2,388km2. While the district had a rates rise of 20.7% between 2023 and 2024 to address historic underinvestment in core infrastructure, its current rates rise of 4.3% for 2025-26 is less than half the group median of 8.9%.

“In essence, SWDC has fewer staff and a lower operating budget on average than comparably sized councils but we must deliver all the same services,” says Corbett.

South Wairarapa’s capital expenditure reveals that the Council is overwhelmingly focussed on investing in the district’s core infrastructure. Wastewater, stormwater and roading account for the vast majority of forecast expenditure for the next three years.

The new local government performance metrics are now available online to the public, giving residents a direct comparison of councils across the motu on the Department of Internal Affairs website at dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Local-council-performance–metrics