20 Nov 2025: wastewater, roadworks, housing, trees

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Treated wastewater overflow

Enquiry

Was just following up on yesterday's Wastewater Treatment Plant overflow with some Qs. Appreciate some of this might have been in line for an update today anyway but was just hoping to cover off a few things.

Please see Qs below.

• What caused the break - age, pressure, a particular incident, or something else?
• How long do you estimate the break was active before contractors reported it?
• Has any previous maintenance been done on this pipe? How old is it?
• Any estimate on the volume of overflow?
• Which nearby water bodies are potentially affected?
• What are the preliminary test results (e.g., E. coli levels) showing so far?
• How often will sampling/testing be done, and for how long?
• Will this incident trigger any review of the wastewater network’s resilience, especially under heavy rainfall?
• Are there financial implications (cost of repairs, testing, public communication) for ratepayers?
• Will this event feed into future infrastructure planning, especially under the Local Water Done Well reforms?

A lot there so please feel free to answer what you can. Looking to turn something around today so a response by early afternoon (2pm latest) would be great if possible.

Response

In acknowledging receipt of this enquiry we informed the reporter that we were working on an update about this situation.

We later provided the reporter with the link to the update on our website which covered his questions: Temporary repairs completed on broken treatment plant pipe - Rotorua Lakes Council

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Media: Aukaha News

Topic: Amohau/SH30A roadworks, treated wastewater overflow, NZ Warriors visit

Enquiry

Reporter requested an interview with Mayor Tapsell regarding the now delayed roadworks on Amohau/SH30A

Response

The interview occurred this morning and also touched on the NZ Warriors visit to Rotorua and the overflow at the wastewater treatment plant

Having been advised by RLC staff that the reporter had gone to the wastewater treatment plant to seek information about the overflow that occurred there yesterday, we emailed them the link to the information available on our website.

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Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: End of contracted emergency housing in motels in Rotorua

Enquiry

I see emergency housing is back in the news after Minister Potaka's statements this week.

Was looking to do a localised follow-up for our readers and would love some comment from the Mayor.

Could either chat over the phone or, if possible, a statement and answers to the following Qs would be great.

• Is there an exact date for the final emergency housing motel ending?
• Where have most former emergency motel residents have gone, and are you confident they’re now in stable, safe accommodation?
• Are you concerned about the Minister’s admission that some people’s whereabouts are unknown, and what does that mean for Rotorua locally?
• Have you seen any early signs of increased homelessness or housing pressure in the city since the motels closed?
• How does Rotorua’s incoming homelessness strategy address the risk that some whānau may fall through the cracks after leaving emergency housing?
• Do you believe the current housing pipeline — including iwi-led and affordable homes — is enough to ensure Rotorua doesn’t return to large-scale motel use in future?

We are hoping to get a story uploaded today around this so any response before the early afternoon would be great, if possible.

Response

Mayor Tapsell was interviewed by the reporter today and made the following key points:

• Really happy to see the end of contracted emergency housing motels
• This was something our community and council pushed hard for
• Pleased to be able to work with this Government on an exit plan which included delivering record numbers of affordable homes
• Work continues on a multi-agency homelessness strategy to deliver immediate and long-term solutions for Rotorua.

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Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Removal of trees in Amohia St

Enquiry

*NOTE: this was a follow up to previous enquiries related to this

Regarding the trees removed from Amohai Street the reporter wanted to know what type of trees they were

Response

They were Liquidambar trees