4 July 2025: council amalgamation, new police, weather event

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Amalgamation of councils

Enquiry

Reporter contacted Mayor Tapsell about the following:

I'm the local democracy reporter based in Tauranga. I'm doing a story about whether councils in the region should amalgamate and the future of councils in general.

I've spoken to Mahé and Doug, and will chat to James this afternoon.

Are you happy to have a quick chat about this? When would be a good time for you?

Response

Mayor Tapsell was interviewed and made the following key points:

• Need to be open to change if change makes sense for the community – must have tangible benefits + no harmful unintended consequences
• Important to take our time when carefully considering options
• Government has signalled interest in this direction
• Makes sense for councils to investigate options and prepare for change so we’re well equipped with good data and evidence to inform any decision making required
• Definitely efficiencies that can be gained by working with other councils
• Need to keep an open mind about how we’d consider and group councils within the Bay of Plenty region
• Iwi and hapu would play a significant role and should be part of any discussions
• Community consultation would be vital
• No decisions have been made – this would be for a future Council - only beginning to investigate options

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Media: Stuff

Topic: New police beat team for Rotorua

Enquiry

Reporter sought an interview with Mayor Tapsell about Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s remark, when in Rotorua announcing a new beat police team for the city, that rough sleeping was a lifestyle choice.

Response

Mayor Tapsell was interviewed and made the following key points:

Mayor Tapsell expressed that the Minister’s comment was well informed and this is what we have heard, and what has been reported here in Rotorua.

She acknowledged that while each individual has a unique story and background, we will not tolerate antisocial and illegal behaviour in the CBD due to the huge impact on businesses and our reputation as a top tourism town.

Mayor Tapsell reinforced the work council, Police and other agencies are doing to connect those in need with support services/accommodation and to keep our CBD safe for everyone.

She also expressed her excitement re the new Police Beat Team announced for Rotorua, that we’ve been asking for extra resource for a while now, this has come at the perfect time for us and will expand on the great progress already achieved through our joint community safety plan.

The Mayor expressed how happy she is for our amazing local Police who will now have extra resource to keep doing the wonderful job they do here in Rotorua.

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Weather event

Enquiry

Seems like we came out unscathed from the rain in the last day but just wanted a quick check in to see if crews were called to any weather related jobs in the last 24 hours?

Response

The following information was provided:

There has been just one weather-related event reported to council, a tree down and blocking Paradise Valley Road yesterday, which was cleared.

That was reported to council around 1pm yesterday.