16 July 2025: local government bill, sleep pods, geothermal use
Media: NewstalkZB
Topic: Local government amendment bill
Enquiry
NewstalkZB requested an interview with Mayor Tapsell regarding the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill
Response
Listen to the interview at the following link: Mayor supports scrapping councils' well-being provisions
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Media: Radio NZ
Topic: Pods for rough sleepers
Enquiry
We’d like to request a response to this article – please also advise us on anything that might be incorrect and if there have been any developments since it was published.
If someone from council would like to speak on our programme – we could accommodate,
Subsequent from reporter:
Love Soup is saying that the issue Council has with these pods is that it’s on iwi land and there are rules around housing consents – but they say it’s more like camping – any clarity on that would be great
Response
We provided the following information:
Nobody wants people to sleep rough and our staff, the police and other groups we work with encourage people to take up help and support that is available, including for housing.
Council has a legal responsibility for public safety and regulations relating to provision of accommodation are about protecting people. We cannot knowingly ignore the regulations.
Once aware of plans for sleeping accommodation for rough sleepers we requested a meeting with the group to understand their plans and provide advice as we had not received a consent application or request for information about requirements they might need to meet.
We have not been able to properly advise the group as they have not shared any information with us about what they plan to do or are doing, how or where.
We advised that any type of accommodation requires consent before starting operations and encouraged them to get this process underway. We also advised them that we are happy to continue working with them to guide them through the consent processes.
*Note to reporter:
Re clarification about pods and camping: we don’t think it would be appropriate to make an assessment on consenting requirements based on images in a media article
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Media: Canada-based freelancer
Topic: Use of geothermal energy for greenhouses
Enquiry
From freelance journalist in Canada:
We received a request for info/comment from a freelance reported based in Canada, Jennifer Cole, who has been asked by the online site Reasons to be Cheerful to write about geothermal energy as it applies to greenhouses. Her research led her to New Zealand and our use of geothermal heating for our nursery greenhouses.
She had the following questions:
1. I know Rotorua is a very seismic area with a lot of geothermal energy - how is that being harnessed for greenhouse growing by the council?
2. What inspired the idea for geothermal greenhouses and how long have them been in use?
3. What are you growing?
4. I noticed that you give public tours of the greenhouses - what is the public's reaction to geothermal energy - it just seems like a natural green energy solution for New Zealand and all it's geothermal activity.
5. There aren't, even in New Zealand, a lot of geothermal heating or use - why do you think that is?
6. Is there any difference in the quality of food or volume of food able to be grown in a geothermal greenhouse as opposed to a conventionally heating one?
7. What sort of cost savings is there in using geothermal energy for your greenhouses as compared to conventional heating sources (on average).
Response
We provided the following information:
From Rotorua Lakes Council:
Geothermal heating is not unusual in Rotorua and four of Rotorua Lakes Council’s operational greenhouses are heated using geothermal energy, along with our nursery offices and potting shed.
The heating comes from a geothermal bore that also heats the nearby museum.
Council grows flowers and plants that we use ourselves, hire out for events and also sell to other councils as well as to the general public.
Being able to heat our greenhouses during winter means we can grow some varieties year-round.
Council has been using geothermal energy to heat greenhouses for more than 25 years.
Additional notes provided to the reporter:
Just confirming that we no longer do public tours of the nursery.
You asked about growing food using geothermal energy – council does not grow food.
Regarding Q5, use of geothermal resource is not managed by Rotorua Lakes Council, it is managed by Bay of Plenty Regional Council, so you’d need to go to them for information about how they manage and allocate the resource. Allocation of geothermal use is limited because over-use can affect natural geothermal features but anything about that should come from Bay of Plenty Regional Council OR GNS which is a national science research institute (email media@gns.cri.nz) and can arrange contact with their geothermal expert Brad Scott who has a lot of knowledge about geothermal energy, the Rotorua geothermal systems and the history of it. He is excellent and will be able to give you a great overview of our geothermal systems, how it’s managed and why.
As previously suggested, you might also be interested in what one of our local businesses, which grows gerberas, is doing with its use of geothermal energy in its greenhouses. If you go to their website then click on the ‘info’ tag that gives you a bit of info: Buy-Flowers-Online-Gerbera-Growers-PlentyFlora.html
*We also provided a couple of images as requested by the reporter
