Land values were revalued every three years to help councils set rates. The cost of land had risen by about 25 per cent in Marlborough, between 2017 and 2020. Ratepayers in Blenheim, Picton, Grovetown and Ngakuta Bay were the worst hit by the “major valuation movements”, with some staring down the barrel of a 15.6 per cent increase. Fletcher said one of the council s benchmark properties in Blenheim was set to face a 10.5 per cent rates rise this year after its land rose 46 per cent in value, from $185,000 to $270,000. This was $290 more in rates than last year. A benchmark Grovetown property was getting a 15.6 per cent hike.
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Councils are scrambling to deal with holes in their roading budgets, after the Government transport agency warned it could not meet funding expectations.
“Heritage is more than dead things on a shelf in dusty, old buildings. To some people, the Edwin Fox is a hull and some bits of old timber. But to me, it s a talisman of how my great-great-grandfather set out to raise a family in New Zealand.” According to the trust s submission, the walls of the Marlborough Museum were a fire risk, its doors let in ants, and its roof had leaked since “day one”, 31 years ago. The rear half of the building’s floor had also not been reinforced with steel, as was planned, which “could be a death trap for staff or result in damage to the collections”.