Mayor eyes new ideas and opportunities
20 July 2015
Rotorua is hosting more than 600 delegates at this year's Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) annual conference. Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick shares her thoughts:
Hosting the LGNZ conference here is, firstly, a great opportunity to showcase Rotorua and provide a boost in terms of tourism at this time of year.
We're a district on the move with the symbolism of that change most clearly evident in the heart of the city and delegates who came on a tour of the central city on Sunday were most impressed with what they saw and interested in how we've achieved it.
We're constantly receiving positive feedback from visitors to Rotorua about the visible changes and that's really heartening.
The local government sector is very interested in how we're doing things in Rotorua.
For myself and Rotorua councillors who are attending there will be plenty of things to take from the conference - we are looking at sustainable change - business as usual is no longer an option if we want our district to prosper and grow.
As I said in my address at the opening of this week's conference, the key to the ultimate success of our Rotorua 2030 vision and the portfolios our councillors are leading is the partnerships we forge and develop - within our own community, nationally and at an international level.
We're on a journey of transformation but we are acutely aware that everything needs to have a sustainability lens over it.
We also need to make sure we're not just making change for the sake of change and we need to balance the needs of all our residents and make sure we're making robust decisions. That's a challenge the whole local government sector faces so we'll be looking to learn from the experiences of other districts and ensure we're up to date with best practice.
The conference is a chance for us to consider other opportunities we may be able to take advantage of but haven't already identified, perhaps new ways of trying to attract investment and growth.
Among other things the conference will be a chance to discuss and learn about sustainable funding for local government - that's about looking at how, other than through rates, we put the right level of investment into the community to grow resilience.
Other sessions will look at how we ensure the level of infrastructure is right for the size of a community and what in today's world our core services should be and where and when you take a gamble and look to do things differently.
We'll also be looking to the conference to be affirming for us - we believe our council is now much more customer-focused and we're making the right changes to achieve our Rotorua 2030 vision but we are always open to learning from others.
In welcoming delegates to the 2015 LGNZ conference I shared with them our council's decision earlier this year for Rotorua to become a signatory to the Global Compact Cities Programme and as part of that, to explore the potential to become a leading city and an innovative city in sustainability over time.
Rotorua is New Zealand's first signatory to the Global Compact Cities Programme which focuses on collaboration between all levels of government, business and civic society, to create sustainable societies where economic, ecological, political and cultural issues are integrated and advanced.
Joining the Global Compact means Rotorua is now part of a worldwide network of multi-sector experts sharing ideas, strategies and initiatives and I'm very proud that we've taken this step which aligns so well with our long-term goals.
Follow this YouTube link to view the mayor's speech at the official opening of the 2015 LGNZ conference at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre.