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Local Government Act 2002

Planning, decision-making, and accountability - Planning and decision-making - Planning

95: Annual plan

You could also call this:

"A council must make a yearly plan, called an annual plan, that outlines its budget and goals for the upcoming year."

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You have to make an annual plan for each financial year. This plan must be adopted before the year starts. You must prepare the plan in a way that follows certain rules.

You need to consult with people before adopting the annual plan, but you do not have to do this if the plan is not much different from the long-term plan. The annual plan must include a budget and a statement about how the budget will affect the community. It must also say if there are any changes from the long-term plan.

The plan must be available to the public within one month after it is adopted. However, some information about water services does not have to be included in the annual plan if it is already in a separate water services budget, but it does have to include a funding impact statement, as described in clause 20 of Schedule 10.

You can find more information about what should be in the annual plan by looking at section 82 and Part 2 of Schedule 10. For the first year of a long-term plan, the financial statement and funding impact statement in the long-term plan are used as the annual plan. Some annual plans may not have to include all the information if it is already in the long-term plan, as stated in section 93.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM172347.

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Part 6Planning, decision-making, and accountability
Planning and decision-making: Planning

95Annual plan

  1. A local authority must prepare and adopt an annual plan for each financial year.

  2. Subject to subsection (2A), a local authority must consult in a manner that gives effect to the requirements of section 82 before adopting an annual plan under this section.

  3. Subsection (2) does not apply if the proposed annual plan does not include significant or material differences from the content of the long-term plan for the financial year to which the proposed annual plan relates.

  4. An annual plan must be adopted before the commencement of the year to which it relates.

  5. Despite subsection (1), for the first year to which a long-term plan under section 93 relates, the financial statement and funding impact statement included in that long-term plan in relation to that year must be regarded as the annual plan adopted by the local authority for that year.

  6. The purpose of an annual plan is to—

  7. contain the proposed annual budget and funding impact statement for the year to which the annual plan relates; and
    1. identify any variation from the financial statements and funding impact statement included in the local authority's long-term plan in respect of the year; and
      1. provide integrated decision making and co-ordination of the resources of the local authority; and
        1. contribute to the accountability of the local authority to the community.

            1. Each annual plan adopted under this section must—

            2. be prepared in accordance with the principles and procedures that apply to the preparation of the financial statements and funding impact statement included in the long-term plan; and
              1. contain appropriate references to the long-term plan in which the local authority's activities for the financial year covered by the annual plan are set out; and
                1. include the information required by Part 2 of Schedule 10.

                  1. Except where subsection (5) requires otherwise, the local authority must comply with subsection (6)(b) and (c) by means of reference to, rather than duplication of, the long-term plan.

                  2. A local authority must, within 1 month after the adoption of its annual plan, make the plan publicly available.

                  3. However, this section—

                  4. does not apply to information relating to water services if the information is included in a water services annual budget adopted under section 240 of the Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025; but
                    1. despite paragraph (a), applies to information described in paragraph (a) that relates to a funding impact statement (see clause 20 of Schedule 10).

                      Compare
                      Notes
                      • Section 95(2): replaced, on , by section 33(1) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(2A): inserted, on , by section 33(1) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(4): amended, on , by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 124).
                      • Section 95(5)(b): amended, on , by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 124).
                      • Section 95(5)(c): replaced, on , by section 33(2) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(5)(d): amended, on , by section 33(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(5)(e): repealed, on , by section 33(4) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(6)(a): amended, on , by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 124).
                      • Section 95(6)(b): amended, on , by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 124).
                      • Section 95(6A): inserted, on , by section 33(5) of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).
                      • Section 95(7): replaced, on , by section 18 of the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 6).
                      • Section 95(8): inserted, on , by section 172 of the Local Government (Water Services) (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2025 (2025 No 43).