A special break-out magazine summarising the council's draft long-term council community plan (LTCCP) and a separate "state of the city" report will both be delivered along with this month's regular City Talk magazine.
More than 48,000 copies of the magazines will be delivered, at an additional cost of up to $10,000, council chief executive Jim Harland said yesterday.
Previously, a summary of the LTCCP had been included within the City Talk magazine to meet statutory requirements introduced in 2002.
However, announcing the changes yesterday, Mr Harland said it was felt the significant capital expenditure and debt levels included in the latest 10-year plan warranted additional information.
[comment caption=Do you think this was money well spent?]"It does put quite a lot of debt before the residents for a few years . . . and we wanted to make sure everyone had a look and had a say," he said.
The state of the city report was not a statutory requirement, but an in-house initiative designed to "help inform debate and discussion about the 10-year picture", Mr Harland said.
Council forecasts showed debt rising to $354.1 million in 2010-11, largely due to planned borrowing to pay for big-ticket infrastructure items and the planned $198 million Otago Stadium, before declining gradually over the rest of the 10-year period.
Council staff have already highlighted the effects of the the spending plans leaving little room for additional expenditure over the 10-year period.
The release of the documents preceded the beginning of formal consultation on the council's latest draft LTCCP on March 14.
Members of the public have until April 15 to prepare a written submission, followed by hearings on May 4 to 12 and recommendations to the full council on June 2.
The finalised plan would then be adopted on June 22.
A two-day expo aimed at explaining aspects of the plan to ratepayers - including the council's emphasis on sustainability in its planning - would replace public meetings during the consultation period, and would be held at the town hall on March 27 and 28.
