1 July 2021
Media: TVNZ (Q & A show)
Topic: Latest on 3 Waters reform (announced by Government)
Enquiry
Q+A is looking into the Three Waters proposal unveiled today and gauging response from all councils.
What is the Council’s position on the Three Waters proposal released yesterday? Will this be something your council adopts, not adopts or has more questions about?
Response
From Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick:
Our council has been involved in the reform conversation from the start to look after the best interests of our community. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to consider but we will continue to have an active role in discussions to get the best possible outcome for our district.
As a council we have agreed on some high level principles that have focused around the need to ensure the reforms don’t compromise the role of local leadership and local direction, and ensuring iwi interests are upheld.
We have been adamant throughout about the need to ensure our strong partnerships with mana whenua to achieve good outcomes that benefit our whole community are not compromised.
Relationships matter and we don’t want to lose the gains to date from these strong partnerships.
We also want assurance our district will receive services that meet or exceed the standard of services provided prior to the creation of any new entity.
There’s no doubt that there would be advantages from the changes proposed and we need to continue to be involved in the discussions to enable us to negotiate on behalf of our community. We also need to take Te Arawa’s interests into any negotiations and any new entity will need to uphold the principles of the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement.
There’s a lot of information to digest now and we’ll work our way through that to see how things could stack up for us.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Rotorua CBD plans
Enquiry
I am currently finishing up an article about the CBD. I need to put the following comments to the council for right of reply.
Comments from businesses:
- The council should get the jobs that they're already doing finished. (This comment was made in reference to the museum and aquatic centre).
- Parking, beautification of the inner city and sharing Rotorua's story should be priorities for any plan for revitalising the CBD.
Reporter subsequently sent further comments for right of reply as follows:
Here are a few more comments for the council to choose to comment on.
Please note these comments were all made with the understanding that there is no plan to pedestrianise Tutanekai Street. These were comments around what businesses might like to see, or would prefer not to see in the CBD's future.
- We'd only consider supporting a pedestrian-only Tutanekai St if the change was part of a wider plan which could cater for all the consequences.
- The chamber is very keen to see a well-thought-through redevelopment plan agreed upon with the primary stakeholders in the CBD.
- Pedestrianisation of Tutanekai St would "kill" business.
- "If customers can park their cars outside the store, they will come. We're not all on bicycles and horse-drawn carts."
- Rotorua Museum and Aquatic Centre should get priority.
- I think we need to be really particular about the front of the shops. Rotorua is the most cultural town in New Zealand. The city wardens are doing an amazing job. We just need people to come here.
- The CBD can't be what it was before. It has to be something different. We haven't got it right until developers want to come into town.
- We need a CBD that's appealing to spend time in.
Response
From DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston:
It’s great people are already thinking about and discussing their thoughts and ideas for the CBD and we look forward to capturing their input during the course of engagement and consultation as we work through the process to arrive at a final plan.
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Media: Rotorua Weekender
Topic: Matariki Ekengia te Pō - Bike the Night event
Enquiry
Reporter had the following questions about the event:
- Why do you encourage the community to come to this event?
- Why is it great/important to celebrate both Matariki and biking as a community?
Response
Why do you encourage the community to come to this event?
The ‘Matariki Ekengia te Pō - Bike the Night’ ride is a free whanau-friendly bike ride on the beautiful Mokopuna Trail in the Redwoods. Prior to the ride, Te Arawa biodiversity champion Tame Malcolm will give a short talk under the sails about the importance of the ngahere (bush).
Why is it great/important to celebrate both Matariki and biking as a community?
Biking is a great way to connect with whanau and the wider community. This event is a good opportunity to collectively explore our forest by night. At this time of the year it is tempting to hibernate indoors, but with warm clothing and good company we hope that people will be encouraged to get outdoors on two wheels in all seasons!