24 November 2017
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Pensioner Housing - investigation into potential community housing trust
Inquiry
Re open Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) issued in October, inviting suitably qualified organisation to register their interest in delivering a comprehensive solution to provide and develop Council's pensioner housing, including optimisation of the asset for the benefit of the community.
How many expressions of interest has the Council received so far?
Are you able to share with our readers who they are - or what type of sectors they represent?
Why is a model of this type important for Rotorua going forward?
Is this model being replicated from any other Council from around New Zealand - what Council?
Why has Council decided to drive it?
What type of scale could it be to in terms of how many pensioner units?
Response
Information provided:
There isn't anything further to add at this stage to what was in the 2 November Operations & Monitoring Committee meeting agenda (see p18).
Council has not yet decided whether a trust should be established and there is no proposed model at this stage.
Last December Council agreed to investigate the potential to establish a trust to manage pensioner housing which Council currently manages in-house.
The Daily Post covered this at the time - see HERE and HERE.
Progress has been reported through the Operations Report which goes to the monthly Operations & Monitoring Committee. You can find the agendas at THIS LINK - these have been just progress reports as opposed to any further decisions.
The call for expressions of interest (EOI) in the housing trust is part of information gathering. It does not mean something is necessarily happening, it's simply part of the process of exploring options, a way to find out what sort of interest there would be among potential providers if it were decided to establish a trust, and to get an idea of the types of arrangements that might be possible.
The investigation work will be presented to elected members for their consideration for potential inclusion in the draft 2018-28 Long-term Plan (LTP). That will happen during the course of LTP workshops.
The workshops are for elected members only and provide direction for development of a draft LTP which, once approved by councillors (in Feb/March next year), will go out to public consultation. Elected members will then take feedback and submissions into consideration in finalising the LTP which will be adopted in June, with the 2018/19 financial year becoming year one of the plan.
So there won't be anything new regarding pensioner housing until the draft LTP goes out to public - IF they decide to include anything re pensioner housing in the draft LTP.
There may be a proposal in future but there isn't one at this stage.
If you'd like to see the initial report that was considered by elected members go to go to P41 of agenda for that hui (SP&F last December) - the full Council then approved the SP&F committee's recommendation ie that staff explore the potential of a trust and report back to the elected members.
It would not be appropriate to provide details of the expressions of interest which have been received because, as explained above, this is simply part of information gathering to help Council decide if a trust may be a viable option.
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Media: Seven Sharp, TVNZ
Topic: Freedom camping
Inquiry
We are looking into a story around freedom campers.
We know this has been, and still is a hot topic, with tourists, locals and councils.
What, if any, are the bylaws in place at your council?
Are there any particular trouble hotspots?
Are you able to detail the main problems that freedom campers cause in this area?
What, if any, are the proposed solutions to these issues?
Is the council able to put a number on how many freedom campers flock to this area, and which areas are most popular?
Would you like to see this issue dealt with by Central Government rather than Local Government?
Response
From Rotorua Lakes Council's Sports and Recreation Manager, Rob Pitkethley:
Council currently has no bylaw on freedom camping so we are unable to issue infringement notices. However, results from many other Councils show that a bylaw doesn't necessarily fix the problems that may arise from freedom camping.
Last summer, freedom camping was an issue at Hamurana Reserve after an online camping app, that relies on people's feedback, incorrectly promoted the reserve as a freedom campsite. Council has also noticed freedom camping at the permitted site on Trout Pool Road in summer is becoming so popular it is affecting other users and periodically the Rotorua Lakefront Reserve has numbers of freedom campers who need to be moved on.
People in self-contained campervans generally cause very few problems and the Council supports a number of sites where these can be parked, in the city and at various lakes. We' have had reports of freedom campers in non-self-contained vehicles who often park at reserves where there are toilet facilities, which is less concerning than those parked at sites with no facilities. Nationally it has been recognised that the wide range of freedom camping bylaws used by different councils has caused confusion for tourists and there is currently a national review of these bylaws underway.
A consistent national approach to freedom camping would help alleviate some of the problems around freedom camping and in turn help campers know what to expect. For the meantime, to help campers visiting Rotorua, we have increased signage in some reserves to let campers know that certain locations do not provide freedom camping.
We're working with local community groups in some areas and exploring ways they can help manage freedom camping, which is working well at Boyes Beach, Okareka. The Lake Okareka Community Association manages the camping area on behalf of the Council and generates revenue to put back into reserve improvements. This location is popular and can cater for up to 30 campervans, which sometimes reaches capacity in the summer.