17 August 2022
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Passing of Tā Toby Curtis
Enquiry
Reporter sought comment from Mayor Steve Chadwick on the passing today of Te Arawa leader Tā Toby Curtis.
Response
Reporter was provided with a statement issued by the Mayor:
The passing of Tā Toby will be widely felt, both locally and nationally.
He was a great leader and a dear friend and I was privileged to have had the opportunity to spend time with him at his home during the past few weeks.
Tā Toby was a deep intellectual, witty and influential, someone who didn’t suffer fools and who was a strong advocate for young people and for Rotorua. He was also a man with a deep love for his whanau, his whenua, his people and our country.
On a personal level, he provided me with support whenever I needed it in my role as MP and provided wise counsel in my role as Mayor.
He was a strong supporter of the new partnership between Council and Te Arawa that was adopted in 2015. He saw the partnership as enabling meaningful participation by mana whenua in decisions for the benefit of the Rotorua district.
As Mayor I met regularly with Tā Toby as chair of the Te Arawa Lakes Trust, a position he held for 16 years, and we co-chaired the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme Strategy Group which oversees the work being done to improve the quality of our district’s lakes.
Our regular catch-ups were an opportunity for him to speak directly to Council about any concerns he had and gave us an opportunity to keep him informed. His principal concern was always the wellbeing of young people who he said would be the ones to take Te Arawa and our district forward into the future.
Tā Toby was a man who believed it was important to make a difference – and he did.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Complaints about election hoardings
Enquiry
I'm working on a piece about election hoardings. I'm hoping you could help me by providing the answers to the following questions:
- How many election hoarding related complaints have you received?
- What were the complaints?
- Have some hoardings been complained about more than once? If so, which?
Response
From DCE District Leadership and Democracy, Oonagh Hopkins:
We have received 6 complaints relating to 3 election hoardings:
· 4 complaints related to the size of a sign on Te Ngae Rd which has since been removed
· 1 complaint about location of a sign at Awatea Terrace which has been repositioned
· 1 complaint about location of a sign at Reporoa which has been repositioned
We encourage all election candidates to familiarise themselves with the rules relating to election signage to ensure they don’t get caught out. Information about signage is included in candidate information that is available on Council’s website and candidates can give us a call if they have further questions.
The following day [18 August] reporter was provided with the following additional information:
We received a complaint late yesterday [Wednesday] regarding the size of an election sign on Stembridge Road. This is being followed up.