Latest news with #Infometrics'
NZ Herald
30-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Kaipara councillor warns Northlanders face $4000-plus water rates
Affordability for users was the big elephant in the room, Paniora said. She said financial metrics for the new CCO meant user charges within 2.5%-3.5% of household income. Paniora said that meant Northlanders paying between $2888 to $4430, based on Infometrics' average $115,536 annual household income. Drinking water and wastewater assets, debts and services for about 100,000 Northlanders will shift from the three councils to the CCO. KDC yesterday voted to become part of the region's Local Water Done Well (LWDW) plan at a meeting in Mangawhai. WDC kick-started the councils' move toward the regional three-council CCO on July 24. FNDC councillors will decide on whether to step into the plan today. Whangārei's strong drinking water and wastewater asset position has become a hot potato amidst the changes. KDC chief executive Jason Marris said his council had won the inclusion of cross-subsidisation in the new CCO. This had meant concession from Northland's two other district councils. The new CCO's agreement says cross-subsidisation, which it calls harmonisation, will be considered within three years of the company's 2027 establishment. But KDC will be pushing for it to happen as soon as possible within that timeframe. KDC general manager corporate services Sue Davidson said the CCO's initial principles required ring-fencing of debt and pricing, with a pathway to harmonisation to be considered within three years of establishment. 'However, KDC will work towards including harmonisation as early as possible in the implementation phase,' Davidson said in meeting agenda papers. This means Whangārei ratepayers will likely be subsidising those in Kaipara. If KDC didn't move on to the regional CCO, it faced a potential Local Water Done Well financial crisis, she said. KDC could not achieve financial sustainability delivering water services, if it adopted an in-house business unit to do so. The council is still carrying debt from the controversial Mangawhai sewerage scheme and has little financial room to move for required drinking water and wastewater services fixes to meet tougher new water reform requirements, which are monitored through regulator Taumata Arowai. KDC initially wanted to shift its council water services into Auckland's Watercare instead of joining with a Northland CCO. But Auckland Council turned that move down, before the September 3 deadline for regions to get their water services plan to the Government. Financial contributions to KDC from developers operating in Kaipara's Mangawhai, New Zealand's fastest-growing coastal settlement, have been significantly factored into the new Northland CCO meeting LWDW financial sustainability requirements. Davidson said there was significant risk around the amount of development contribution money factored into the new model's financials. 'The initial calculations were considered too aggressive and were moderated on request of elected members. The numbers remain ambitious and continue to carry significant risk of being achieved,' Davidson said. Paniora said the new arrangements did not regard water as a taonga as had already been established by the Treaty of Waitangi. She said Māori as tangata whenua had been left out of the conversation regarding the new plan. Paniora said the only hope for consideration of this aspect lay with FNDC. She said she couldn't vote in favour of today's KDC decision and wanted to wait for the outcome of tomorrow's FNDC decision. The new three-council CCO plan for Northland allows an off-ramp for FNDC not to sign up. In that case there would be a two-council CCO. Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson, Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen and councillors Mike Howard, Gordon Lambeth, Ash Nayyar, Mark Vincent and Rachael Williams voted to be part of the Northland plan. Paniora and councillor Eryn Wilson-Collins voted not to be. ■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Otago Daily Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
NZ no longer in state of 'peak tractor'
By Gianina Schwanecke of RNZ New Zealand has fallen from "peak tractor", with bigger machinery, rising on-farm costs and farmers becoming more efficient driving sales down. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen says as a key piece of farm equipment, tractors have long been thought of as a good economic indicator of farm spending and investment. The more tractors, the more spending, and in turn the better the health of the primary sector - but this was changing, he said. Recent Infometrics' analysis of data from Stats NZ and the New Zealand Transport Agency showed the country hit 'peak tractor' in 2022. It showed the number of active tractors registered in New Zealand reached a peak of 34,549 in March 2022. By March this year that had dropped 4.4 percent to 33,044. The decline in tractor numbers is largely due to the low number of new tractor registrations over time. In the 12 months to April this year, there were 1925 new tractors registered in New Zealand, down 17 percent from a year ago and the smallest annual total since mid-2001. Both the actual number of registered tractors, and the 12-month moving average, have now fallen below 33,000, the first time tractor numbers have been beneath this threshold since 2017. Olsen said the drop was being driven by a range of factors, including changes in technology and farming practices. "Particularly the likes of larger tractors coming on stream, larger farms meaning you don't need quite as many tractors because of larger parcels of land, and also a bit more corporitisation of farming in New Zealand where people are using contractors and similar to ensure whatever they're buying tractors and otherwise are most efficiently used." Olsen acknowledged challenging conditions in recent years, including increased on-farm costs and higher interest rates, had put pressure on farmers and limited opportunities for new investment with many running tractors for as long as possible. He said a level of continued concentration in farms across the country into larger farm operations may have also contributed to a rationalisation of tractor assets nationally. Farmers also seemed to be investing differently as was evident at the recent Mystery Creek Fieldays near Hamilton. "People are starting to increasingly embrace a much wider more diverse set of technology in the primary sector," Olsen said. "You know there were a lot more drones at Fieldays this year, a lot of talk about wearables and the importance of the productivity gains that those sort of options bring." Tractor sales at the Fieldays seemed to have been buoyed though by the government's new tax incentive for farm machinery. Tractor and Machinery Association president Jaiden Drought said the Fieldays had been "fantastic". "Everyone went into the Fieldays very buoyant and the show was certainly a success. Everyone had significantly higher inquiry - they thought that even day one of the show was better than all the days combined last year." Drought felt the drop-off since 2022 related to post-Covid conditions, which included farmers using tractors for longer and more jobs on farm. He said some of this market uncertainty remained, especially given the current geopolitical outlook. "I think the trend will see an upswing in machinery sales, I think we're just in a little bit of a holding pattern." He expected sales to improve in the spring.
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Agriculture bolstering economy
Clutha Development chief executive Linda Moore. Photo: supplied Anticipated record dairy payouts are helping Clutha's economy buck the national downward trend, new figures show. Regional development organisation Clutha Development has released the latest economic results for the district, which show a strong agricultural sector bolstering modest overall growth. Infometrics' Quarterly Economic Monitor showed economic activity in Clutha rising by 0.5% in the year to March 2025, outperforming the national economy, which shrank by 1.1%. This was underpinned by a record forecast dairy payout for 2024-25. The dairy sector is expected to inject $434 million into the local economy — an increase of $103m on last season. Meat prices are also contributing to rural confidence, as lamb and beef prices rise 10% and 15% respectively. Clutha Development chief executive Linda Moore said the report reflected the underlying strength of the district's primary industries. ''This quarter's results show Clutha is in a strong position. Our rural sector continues to perform, and we're seeing confidence return to the housing market and resilience in our local labour force.'' Despite subdued conditions nationally, Clutha's employment grew by 0.4% during the past year, while the national average fell by 0.9%. The local unemployment rate sits at just 2.4% — less than half the national figure of 4.9% — reflecting the district's continuing tight labour market. There were also signs of recovery in Clutha's housing market. House values rose 4% during the past year to an average of $327,557, supported by a 16% increase in sales volumes. And while Ms Moore said tourism and consumer spending were areas to watch, the fundamentals of Clutha's economy remained strong. Consumer spending was down 3% for the year, against a 1.4% drop nationally, although the latest quarter showed this to be easing. Tourism growth had started to ''dry up'' nationally — Clutha's tourism spend dropping by 4% to $97m against zero change nationally. ''We know households are being cautious, but there are clear signs of stability and even optimism. ''We're well placed to make the most of future opportunities, particularly as interest rates ease and confidence grows.'' Clutha Development is conducting its annual business confidence survey now. ''While the statistics tell a positive story, we're keen to hear directly from our local business community. Their insights will help us understand how the national trends are translating into day-to-day experiences here in the district.'' She said Clutha Development continued to work with local businesses and industry groups to ''build resilience and support growth''.
