18 April 2017

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Rotorua District Resident Ratepayers press release - call for Statutory Management

Inquiry

Could I please ask the following of the mayor or CEO or CFO or all of them?

- Why do you think the council should not be placed into statutory management?

- Is the RLC's debt manageable?

- What does the RLC make of their claims about the museum rate? And overall, their criticism of the annul plan?

Response

From CE Geoff Williams:

This is a political submission into the annual plan process and it would not be appropriate to comment.

From Mayor Steve Chadwick:

This relates to a submission which will be considered along with all other submissions.

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Media: Radio NZ

Topic: Flooding in Reporoa and driveways in Paradise Valley

Inquiry

Flooding

A Federated Farmers spokesperson told me they had been trying to get Rotorua Lakes Council to take some action before the floods on drains that had been blocked up with sediment. He says this may have contributed to the flooding on the farms. Can the Council respond to this?

Paradise Valley

Also a Paradise Valley farmer says they believe the Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council should have acted sooner to manage the upper Ngongotaha catchment areas to prevent flooding which has occurred there. What is your response to that?

Response

Rotorua Lakes Council transport, waste and waters director Stavros Michael:

Council has responsibility for managing the road corridor. Driveways off the road corridor, including the likes of culverts which are supporting driveways, are the responsibility of the private property owners.

Despite that, Council has been working with the owners of these Paradise Valley properties to see how we can help them to re-establish access to their properties.

We will continue to work directly with them.

Regarding Reporoa, Council has received four calls from three property owners during recent months regarding overgrown drains in two areas (Longview Rd and Otto Rd). With several rain events during the past month, we have had an unprecedented amount of rainfall in a short period of time which means land is waterlogged. Waterways remain high, the water table remains high and these will take a little time to drain away.