26 February 2025
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Tarawera Sewerage Scheme
Enquiry
Reporter had follow-up questions regarding the below information she was provided on 11 Feb:
Current estimated cost per household of the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme:
The specified range per household is $38,000 – $41,700 (excluding GST). The final decision will be made by Council following consultation on the 2025/26 Annual Plan.
Currently, there are 446 properties but part of the costs, eg Stage 1, is spread over 550 to allow for future development.
Funding allocation:
The scheme is partially funded by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC) and Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC). The rest of the cost will be met by contributions from the owners of each property that benefits from the scheme:
- MfE: $6.5m
- BOPRC: $750,000
- RLC: $1,485,000 ($2,700 contribution per property (increase from $1,500 which was approved as part of the Long-term Plan 2024-34 decisions). RLC is using its balance sheet for upfront borrowings ($20.2m) to progress the scheme.
Total: $8,735,000m
Note: Council will continue exploring funding and regulatory options to further alleviate the capital cost burden for Tarawera property owners. This will be consulted on as part of upcoming 2025/26 Annual Plan consultation.
Council has already approved re-allocating $2m previously tagged for the Aquatic Centre towards this project.
INITIAL QUESTION:
is the 2m redirected from the aquatic centre reflected in the 8.75m total?
SUBSEQUENT QUESTION:
so triple checking the actual total for funding as it stands now is $10.75m?
And does the $2m added from delays etc take the project total to $31m?
As in this following sentence is accurate:
The $29 million scheme is partially funded by the Ministry for the Environment, Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council - about $10.7m - and the rest by Tarawera ratepayers.
Response
We provided the following information:
Initial response:
the $2 million redirected from the aquatic centre is on top of the $8.75m total.
Response to subsequent question:
It is estimated it will be between $31 and $32 million, depending on the progress of the current pipeline work.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Award for BMX event
Enquiry
I am just writing to request a comment from Tania about The Best Event award received for the UCI BMX Racing World Cup 2024 event at the BMX facility at Whakarewarewa.
I wanted to ask her what the win means for future mountain biking and BMX events in Rotorua.
I will attach their letter from UCI TO Cycling New Zealand so you can see [SEE ATTACHED].
I guess if Tania could answer how important collaboration is to pull events like the BMX World Cup together and how she feels about the local achievement would be ideal.
Response
From Rotorua Mayor, Tania Tapsell:
“Rotorua attracts a number of international events because of the excellent experiences and facilities that we have. Our Council has recently focused on supporting major events such as UCI BMX Racing World Cup. We were delighted to team up with the Rotorua BMX Club and Cycling New Zealand to bring the dream to life of hosting a world cup event right here in Rotorua.
“Being awarded the best event is a great honour and well deserved recognition of everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. The event attracted top competitors from around the world, including some that went on to win gold medals at the Paris Olympics. It was great for our locals and children to get the opportunity to attend this event in person and we are very proud of how Rotorua and New Zealand were showcased to the world.”
