This is the submission that I made on the Timaru District Council's 2011 Draft Annual Plan:

Submission on Timaru District Council Draft Annual Plan (DAP) 2011-2012

I would like to thank that Timaru District Council for giving me an opportunity to make a submission on the Draft Annual Plan (DAP). I feel that that Council has not yet given adequate thought to some key areas of the DAP and I urge Members of the Council to give the items below more than just a fleeting glance.

It is unfortunate that Councillors on the Timaru District have a very strong feeling around what rates the community can afford while they seemingly have little understanding of the effects of increasing Council debt will have on the future of the District.

Council Debt must be Controlled

The Council has widely publicised that General Rate rise has been pegged back from the forecast rise of well over 8% to a value of 5.8% in the DAP. Planned and deferred expenditure has also been covered well, but what hasn’t received any scrutiny is the proposed change to debt levels.

I would like to pay particular attention to the Council's planned Debt/Asset ratio, as this is a both a reasonable tool to indicate Council's solvency position over time and as a measure of the Council’s performance against other District Councils in New Zealand. More...

This letter was published in the Timaru Herald:

For Timaru and other highly polluted airsheds, the new target is to have less than three high pollution nights by 2016. Based on measurements since 1999, Timaru is currently trending to reach three high pollution nights by 2055! In comparison Christchurch is still trending to meet the original target by 2013.

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With fellow Mayoral candidate Ron Bishop starting a campaign to keep Century Pool open, it's an opportune time to review the Timaru District's operational expenditure on Recreation and Leisure. The first chart shows the planned expenditure for the 2009/2010 financial year alongside the planned operational expenditure for the 2012/2013 financial year. The 2012/2013 financial year will be the first year in which the new Aquatic Centre will be in full operation. For Swimming Pools, the difference of $3.8 million between 2009/2010 ($1.5 million) and 2012/2013 ($5.3 million) results from both the projected $4 million running costs of the new Aquatic Centre and the closing of Century Pool.

Chart 1: Timaru District Council planned Recreation and Leisure expenditure. Note that Other includes the Art Gallery, Museum, Theatre Royal, Halls and Community Centres, Motor Camps, Fishing Huts and Forestry.

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Federated Farmers circulated the following set of questions to all candidates standing for the Timaru District Council. With around half of the expected votes already cast, the candidate responses will likely have little impact on the election outcome. However, it still represented an excellent opportunity to engage with one of the regions most outspoken and influential interest groups. The questions and my response are as follows: More...

Here's the speech that I presented to residents of the Margaret Wilson Rest Home today:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for inviting me speak today.

For those of you who don't know me, name is Andrew McMillan and I'm standing for the positions of Mayor and Councillor on the Timaru District Council. I am prepared to work with everyone, both young and old, to advance democracy, a healthy District and a change in fiscal direction. More...

Squeaky Wheel is a group that is dedicated to promoting cycling and cyclists views throughout South Canterbury. As part of the Local Body elections, they sent out a questionnaire to all candidates to canvass their views. Here's my response to their questions:

I'd like to thank Squeaky Wheel for giving me this opportunity to put forward my views on the role of active transport within the Timaru District. I am aware of some of the initiatives and submissions that Squeaky Wheel has carried out in the past and I am fully supportive of the group's goals. More...

Here's my Mayoral and Timaru Ward profiles that appeared in the Timaru Herald on Saturday and Monday respectively:

Mayoral Profile

I'm delighted to have the opportunity to put forward my case for taking on the position of Mayor.

My primary vision is to get Council spending and the resultant debt under control. This is done by more robust long term planning. The Office of the Auditor General's recent review of Long Term Council Community Plans showed the Timaru District’s plan was deficient in terms of inflation adjustment and incomplete supplementary information. Only four councils, including the Timaru District, received adverse opinions that were carried forward to their final report. I want to ensure that long term planning becomes a priority as this should be the primary driver for capital investment. More...

This ad was run in the election pull-out in today's Timaru Courier:

Mission Statement

My name is Andrew McMillan and I’m standing for Mayor of the Timaru District Council. This is my first time standing and you might think it’s a bit cheeky to be standing for the top job. I have put a lot of time and energy into preparing my campaign and I’m up for the job. I would be very proud to represent you as Mayor.

My policy is in clear contrast to the direction that the outgoing Council has set and I am prepared to work with everyone to advance democracy, a healthy District and a change in fiscal direction. More...

Back in July I put together a financial analysis around the Timaru District Council's (TDC) growing debt problem. For that article I used a series of histograms to show the TDC's financial position worsening from 1999 (where it was placed 25th worst) to 2009 (where it was placed 16th worst) and finally 2019, which projects the TDC having the 5th worst debt to asset ratio of all 56 District Councils (including Unitary Authorities) in the country.

The Rodney District Council is going to become part of the Auckland City Council and the Tasman District Council is a Unitary Authority. So strictly speaking by 2019, the TDC is projected to have the 3rd worst debt to asset ratio of all District Councils in the country, behind the Queenstown Lakes and Kapiti Coast District Councils. More...

When I was putting together my submission on the Timaru District Council's (TDC) Long Term Council Community Plan 2009-2019 (LTCCP) last year, I noticed that the TDC was planning to take on a serious amount of debt. The TDC currently has just under $58 million in total liabilities (as at 31 March 2010) and this expected to balloon from $65 million at the end of the 2010 financial year to $158 million by the end of the 2016 financial year. At the end of the planning period, in 2019, total liabilities are expected reduce by a fraction to $150 million. More...