From the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee 8 July 2021
Eastside Community Wellness Plan
The Eastside community’s Te Oranga Nui – Rāwhiti Mai: Eastside Community Wellness Plan is one step from final approval after receiving support from Council’s Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee today.
A community-led partnership, the plan is a shared vision to create a connected, vibrant community that nurtures the people and environment, setting out a variety of actions and establishing “an Eastside way of working” to deliver these.
The plan is a partnership between Eastside hapū, the Tatau Pounamu Collective, Council and key contributors (Waka Kotahi/NZTA, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Rotorua Airport, Ministry of Education, Ngāti Whakaue Tribal Lands Trust Inc) and has involved ongoing community engagement and consultation to provide input.
Following support from the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee, the plan will go to the Full Council later this month for final adoption and once adopted, the focus will move to implementing actions within the plan.
The Committee was told some actions had already been carried out and leading various actions still to be undertaken would be shared among the various partners, depending on the nature of the work.
The Eastside Community Wellness Plan links to the Rotorua 2030 Vision, Te Arawa Vision 2050, council’s Spatial Plan (adopted in 2018), the He Papakāinga, He Hāpori Taurikura – Homes and Thriving Communities Strategic Framework, council’s 2021-31 Long-term Plan 2021-2031 and Eastside Locality Planning. It also supports the Tatau Pounamu Strategy and relates to workstreams of Council’s Government agency partners and Eastside community wellbeing activities.
Following community engagement on a draft plan (which was approved last September) a deliberations working group was formed to consider all feedback received. This group included representation from the Eastside hapū, Tatau Pounamu Collective, and an elected member and was supported by Council staff.
This resulted in some minor changes to the Plan including:
- A name change to Te Oranga Nui – Rāwhiti Mai: Eastside Community Wellness Plan
- The addition of categorisation regarding the implementation readiness of actions
- Improved wording for some actions
- Addition of some new actions that strengthened the key moves
Feedback on the draft plan was primarily positive, a report to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee notes. A number of strength-based actions were identified to better support the key moves within the final Plan. People highlighted existing concerns within their community and expressed the importance of the actions within the Plan reducing or removing these negative effects from the rohe.
Funding for Council’s role in implementing/delivering on the actions within Te Oranga Nui – Rāwhiti Mai: Eastside Community Wellness Plan comes from existing operational budget and associated work plans. Any subsequent projects with financial or budget considerations will be brought separately to Council.
- View the report in the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee meeting agenda (pages 10-21)
- View the presentation slides
- Go directly to this portion of the meeting recording on Council’s YouTube channel.
Rotorua Economic Development
Rotorua Economic Development’s role may be extended to support delivery of housing and development targets set out in Council's Long-term Plan.
A proposal to extend the Council-Controlled Organisation’s role gained support in principle from the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee today.
If subsequently approved by the Full Council, a more detailed report, including resourcing requirements and financial parameters and implications, will come back to elected members for their consideration and final decisions.
Council’s DCE District Development, Jean-Paul Gaston, told the Committee strategic targets in the Council’s 2021-31 Long-term Plan, in particular those related to the likes of housing, development and jobs, would not be achieved without working differently.
A modest extension of RED’s role would enable Council to leverage the commercial expertise of the CCO’s board and staff and its existing relationships, it would be able to move with speed, and would provide separation from Council’s regulatory role, protecting confidentiality and building trust, Mr Gaston said.
A staff report presented to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee today outlines the intent of and reasons for the recommendation, and detail on how RED (a Council-Controlled Organisation) could be mobilised to operate more effectively.
RED is already charged with supporting urban regeneration and delivery of transformational placemaking projects through its current Statement of Intent. Key tasks include:
- Partnering with public and private sector organisations to create a platform for private sector investment;
- Providing robust information to assist with private sector decision making;
- Assisting with the reduction of regulatory barriers;
- Liaising with investors and landowners and matching capability with opportunity with investors to get development projects underway.
It is proposed this role be extended to provide more tools and a wider mandate for Council and RED to better support transformational placemaking projects. Key tasks would include:
- De-risking inner city development through activities such as supporting due diligence and business cases, understanding risk, upgrading infrastructure, demolition of building and structures
- Procuring and managing private partners to deliver developments
- Using Council land to deliver projects when it is clear the private sector alone will not deliver them in the short term
- Purchasing and assembling larger parcels of land to support or deliver projects
- Administering and utilising Council’s underperforming strategic landholdings to ensure they deliver maximum value.
An extension of the CCO’s role, as proposed, is expected to include a level of additional funding and designated properties assigned to RED to action initiatives.
“The proposed delivery structure is fundamentally about front footing opportunities and making RED responsible for delivery while maintaining accountability back to Council,” the report to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee says.
“Over the past six months Council and RED have been engaging with landowners and developers, to try and influence and support opportunities for transformational placemaking projects. However, through these engagements it has become obvious that the current decision-making structure is not optimal. Commercial partners are concerned about confidentiality and decision making delays if all opportunities must be considered by Council.”
Clear operating expectations and a decision-making envelope would be set to support the proposed new approach, and would determine when RED can make decisions under delegation and when decisions are required by Council.
The proposal received in-principle support from the majority of the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee with Councillor Reynold MacPherson abstaining and requesting that his abstention be noted.
- View the full report
- View the presentation
- Go directly to this portion of the meeting recording on Council’s YouTube channel.
