ACROSS THE REGION

September 2026

Chair's Message

Tēnā koutou,

Welcome to our first edition of Across the Region for 2026. This edition also marks my first as your Horizons Regional Council chair, so I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself. Kō Nikki Riley tōku ingoa – my name is Nikki Riley. I’ve represented the Ruapehu District on Horizons Regional Council since 2022, and became Horizons’ chair in October 2025.

This year has been very busy for Horizons, and I’m sure many of you relate to this. Aside from our own Annual Plan and Long-term Plan targets, we’ve also had to navigate a lot of change: Resource Management Act reform, rates capping, and Simplifying Local Government (also known as local government reform or amalgamation). As a regional council, we weren’t able to directly make submissions on how councils in our region could amalgamate. However, we retained a seat at the table to help to inform these discussions. One way we did this was through our district information packages, which you may have heard us talk about in the past few months. These packages compile all the work we do, including the resources it takes to deliver this work, with a package each for Ruapehu, Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Manawatū, Tararua, Palmerston North and Horowhenua. Feedback from our region’s mayors and members of the public shows these packages have been helpful for understanding the depth and breadth of Horizons’ work. We’ve uploaded the district packages to our website for anyone to view on our website at horizons.govt.nz/your-council/simplifying-local-government. 

We’re working on our next Long-term Plan (LTP), which sets out the strategic direction for council work for the next 10 years. We’ve completed the first phase of consultation, asking for your thoughts on four strategic priorities. These priorities – resilience, stewardship, prosperity and partnership – are our guiding principles for how we want to work. To learn more about the strategic priorities, follow upcoming Long-term Plan consultation phases, or view other topics we’re consulting on, visit haveyoursay.horizons.govt.nz.

I know it may seem unusual to be consulting on work given talk of amalgamations. However, I believe it’s more important than ever to make sure you have your say on consultations in your area – whether that be from us, or your city or district council. With so much change happening at once, making sure you take every opportunity to have your say gives you the chance to be a part of the future of local government in your city or district, region and country. While Horizons as a regional council may or may not exist in its current form in the future, things such as the Long-term Plan is key for setting out the work plan for the next few years and signalling to future entities the work we have promised to achieve. Having a Long-term Plan locked in means whoever takes over from us will be able to effectively pick up where we left off, and continue to deliver on the work to help us toward our vision of making our region a place where people and the land are nourished.

Ngā mihi nui,

Nikki Riley, Chair.

Catchment Operations 2025/26 financial year wrap

Results are in for our Catchment Operations group's mahi this year. Safe to say, it was another big one! Here are some highlights from the last 12 months:

• 680,800 trees planted through SLUI
• 356 erosion control jobs completed
• 460 km of river channel maintenance
• 1,268 maintenance checks of floodgates
• 2,149 km of drains maintained and repaired
• 2,780 sites managed under our pest plant programme
• 118,348 bait stations refilled across 963,341 ha in the fight against possums
• 72 rookeries treated to manage rook populations
• 48.23 km of stream fencing completed
• 206,767 riparian plants planted to improve freshwater quality
• 95 sites across 1,620 ha actively managed under the Priority Habitats programme to protect rare ecological values

View all statistics as presented at the latest Integrated Catchment Committee (ICC) in the report here.

Creating community connections

Public transport usage across the region increased 12.5% in 2025-26 – the biggest patronage increase of any regional and unitary council in the country. Commuter routes like Whanganui-Palmerston North and Marton-Palmerston North saw especially strong growth as people opt to bus rather than drive.

The new Whanganui network, launched in April, streamlined 17 different routes down to five (two high-frequency, three hourly) better connecting the city for work, play, and education. At the start of Term 3, we stepped in to co-fund the Ashhurst-Palmerston North high school services, keeping education access open for up to 300 children. Feilding’s fleet went fully electric in July, with weekend services and new Sunday runs introduced.

We also run smaller community links, such as the Raetihi-Ohakune service – every second Tuesday, departs Raetihi 10am from Ward/Seddon St, then back from Ohakune at 1pm from outside the pharmacy on Goldfinch St – which are handy for shopping, prescriptions or lunch with a friend. It’s just $2.20 for adults, $1.30 for children under 18, and free or SuperGold card holders.

Get all the information you need about our bus services at goconnect.org.nz.

Keeping you informed

We know many of you love reading Across the Region, but we’re using this edition to ask if it’s still the best way to keep you informed about what we’re doing for you. Different options like e-newsletters or advertising in community newspapers could save money, but may not match the newsletter’s guaranteed reach.

Head to haveyoursay.horizons.govt.nz/ATR to let us know what you think. Entries go into the draw for one of five $200 supermarket vouchers.

Being prepared for an emergency

With the increasing frequency of severe weather events across the country in recent years, making sure you, your whānau and animals, and your property are prepared for emergencies before they happen is important.

Here are some top tips from our expert team over at the Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group:

Identify your likely hazards

Do you live near the coast? Your property may be more at risk of tsunami. Is your property located near a fault line? Ensuring items within your home are secured in case of an earthquake could save you from costly repairs. We’ve got a handy hazard viewer on our website which you can use to view a range of hazards across the region. Find it at bit.ly/hrc-hazardviewer.

Make a plan

Once you’ve identified your likely hazards, you can prepare accordingly by making a household emergency plan. The Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group website has some helpful templates to make planning easy: mwcdem.govt.nz/get-ready/home-ready.

In your plan, consider things like:

• meeting points
• where you’ll store your plan
• how you’ll manage pets and livestock
• knowing when and how to turn off utilities in your home
• how you’ll stay informed in an emergency, and;
• any special needs of your household members.

Take action

Now you have a plan, you can take action depending on your household’s needs.

In an emergency, you may end up stuck at home for several days. Having what you need on hand makes this a lot easier to manage. To build your stock of emergency supplies at home, you’ll need:

• Enough water for at least three days (at least nine litres per person – and don’t forget about pets)
• Food that doesn’t need to be cooked (unless you have a camping stove or BBQ – and don’t forget baby and pet food) and a can opener
• A first aid kit
• Torch and spare batteries
• Portable chargers
• Solar or battery-powered radio (or car radio)
• Dust masks (P2 or N95) and work gloves
• Supplies to make an emergency toilet (large bucket with lid or heavy-duty rubbish bags, toilet paper, and disinfectant).

If you rely on electricity for medical reasons, talk to your GP or medical provider about your emergency plan.

You might also need to evacuate your home, work or school quickly in an emergency, so having a ready-to-go grab bag for each member of your household is essential. You can keep your grab bag at home or in the car.

Visit the Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group website to find out what supplies you’ll need and for other planning tips and resources.

Tsunami signage across the region has been updated

You may have noticed your local tsunami signage has been updated. Thanks to funding from NEMA, we’ve replaced tsunami signage to make it easier to understand region-wide, simplifying the three old evacuation zone colours into a single blue zone – the area to evacuate during a tsunami warning or a long or strong coastal earthquake.

For more information on tsunami safety and preparedness, visit our website below.

Regional Pest Management Plan

Ngā mihi nui (a big thanks) to everyone who submitted on our biosecurity discussion document – the first step in creating our new Regional Pest management plan. Nearly 180 submissions raised key themes:

• Strong support for protecting indigenous biodiversity
• Support for collaboration and partnership.
• Calls to do more pest control, balanced against funding concerns 
• Broad support for ‘clear land’ and ‘good neighbour rules’, requiring landowners of certain properties to control pests so they don’t spread.

• Strong calls for feral animal control (cats, deer, pigs, goats), but mixed views on control methods.

We are still developing the draft RPMP, which we'll consult on in 2027. Keep up to date with the progress below.

Don't let bird flu take flight

Avian influenza (bird flu) is in the news, and we’re part of the response to try to keep our region’s birds and people safe.

If you see three or more dead birds together, it could be a sign of bird flu. Don’t touch them – Avoid, Record, Report.

Avoid – keep yourselves, pets and children a few metres back.

Record – location, number and behaviour of birds.

Report – contact the Exotic Pest and Disease Hotline on 0800 96 96 96, or go to report.mpi.govt.nz/pest. 

We've updated our websites!

Our website horizons.govt.nz has a new look – mainly to move off an unsupported system, but also to improve navigation and mobile use.

Public transport (goconnect.org.nz) and emergency management (mwcdem.govt.nz) now have dedicated websites, while the Te Āpiti – Manawatū Gorge website we manage for the region (teapiti.co.nz) is also refreshed.

If you have bookmarked links from our old website, they may not work with the changeover. Try using the search function first, but if you’re still struggling to find information please get in touch.

What we do for you

As part of local government reform, we have created a series of district information packages. Each package – there’s one for each district of our region – breaks down what we do in each district, and how we rate across the region to pay for this work.

The packages clearly show the links between urban and rural environments, and the top and bottom of river catchments. These are important links to consider, given central government’s clear directive that effective delivery of regional functions such as transport and catchment management must be considered through local government reform.

You can view the district packages on our website horizons.govt.nz at the link below.

Rates reminder

Have you spotted your rates invoice yet? If not, it should be arriving soon. As a friendly reminder, payment is due on 25 September 2026.

For more information about how to pay your rates, or an explanation of your rates visit the links below.

Be on the 'rook out' for rooks

It’s rook spotting season again, and we need your help!

Rooks are a pest animal in our region, causing extensive damage to agricultural land in large numbers. Rooks or rookeries (rook nests) can be identified through some tell-tale signs, like:

• Their large size and colour. They’re about the size of a magpie, with black feathers with a purplish sheen.
• They fly the same path morning and night.
• They prefer to nest high up in pine or gum trees.
• Nesting season is running now until the end of October, with juveniles fledging mid-December.
• They make a harsh ‘kaw kaw’ sound and fly with a ‘lazy’ wing beat.

Rook control must be done by experienced operators, so if you think you’ve spotted a rook or rookery, call freephone 0508 800 800 and ask for our pest animal team.

Your elected members

Your 14 councillors are here to represent you and your interests, no matter where you live in the region. Based in each of our region’s eight constituencies, they work together to make our region a place where people and the land are nourished.

You can find contact details for Horizons councillors on our website below.

Council meetings and events

September 2026

• MWCDEM Joint Standing Committee, 1 September, 9am

• Regional Transport Committee, 1 September, 11am

• Climate Action Joint Committee, 7 September, 1:30pm

• Regional Council Meeting, 22 September, 9:30am

October 2026

• Passenger Transport Committee, 20 October, 10am

• Regional Council Meeting, 28 October, 9:30am

November 2026

• Strategy and Policy Committee, 10 November, 9:30am

• Integrated Catchment Committee, 11 November, 10am

• Regional Council Meeting, 24 November, 9:30am

• Audit, Risk and Investment Committee, 25 November, 9:30am

Strategy & Policy and Regional Council meetings are livestreamed via our Facebook page, with the recordings later available on Vimeo.

Unless otherwise stated meetings are open to the public and will be held at Regional House, 11-15 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North. Please note all details were correct at the time of print. However, for the most up-to-date dates and times for council meetings please check our website at horizons.govt.nz.