Infrastructure and Environment Committee decisions
Community to be consulted on Museum options
The community will be consulted on options for strengthening and restoration of Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa – Rotorua Museum following an Infrastructure and Environment Committee decision today.
The total cost of the restoring the Museum has increased to $81.4m with the potential for costs to escalate further given the complexity and age of the building.
Because of this, the Committee has supported the future of the building restoration being taken out for consultation with the community. The cost and implications of four options were outlined in a report and are:
- Restore the building and re-open as a museum, which would require an additional $28m more funding at minimum.
- Stage the project – strengthen the building, but do not open as a museum until further funding is obtained.
- Postpone the project (building would remain closed) and investigate a new museum/art gallery in an alternative location.
- Investigate strengthening the building to a lower 34% National Building Standard and investigate a new museum/art gallery in an alternative location.
The Committee has directed staff to undertake community consultation on the four options to understand the level of community commitment to the project and the level of support for any additional funding.
Council will make a decision on which option to pursue following consultation, which has been scheduled to start on 24 May and will run for a month. Council would then be able to make a decision, in early July, on how to proceed.
You can read the report at the link below (please note that the report states consultation would start 17 May. The date has been changed to 24 May at the request of the Committee, to enable more time to develop a consultation document):
Community to have a say on speed management plan for Rotorua
The Committee has approved a recommended approach to setting speed limits for Rotorua and using this to create a draft Speed Management Plan for community consultation.
Speed Management Plans are required under new Government legislation relating to setting of urban speed limits.
The Committee today also approved revoking the Speed Limit Bylaw 2014 as it is no longer needed under the new legislation.
It was recommended to the Committee that reduced speeds around schools and in the CBD be prioritised in Rotorua, ahead of remaining local streets.
The new legislation proposes that speeds be reduced down to 30-40km/h for local streets and city hubs, 40-60km/h for urban connector streets and 80-100km/h for transit corridors (eg motorways and urban expressways).
The new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022 provides a new framework for setting speed limits across New Zealand through speed management plans that address recommended safe and appropriate speed limits, related transport infrastructure and speed monitoring cameras.
A speed management plan sets out the objectives, policies and measures for speed management for at least 10 financial years and includes a 3-year implementation programme.
Road controlling authorities (eg councils) must provide their speed management plans to their regional transport committee to create a consolidated regional speed management plan which then goes out to public consultation. Final certification is given by Waka Kotahi.
The Committee was informed that there is the ability for Council to recommend a different approach following community consultation but that this could be changed at regional transport committee level.
Go to p34 of the meeting agenda (see link below) to read the full report on this matter.
Infrastructure and Environment Committee - Rotorua Lakes Council
Procurement for organic waste collection to progress
The Committee has approved a Food Organics Green Organics collection, with fortnightly collection of rubbish, as a preferred option following public consultation last year.
Organic waste collection is identified as a priority in Council’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) 2022-28 and Climate Action Plan 2020 and was indicated in the 2021-31 Long-term Plan.
Submissions received during public consultation held in May/June 2022 favoured a mixed collection of both food and garden waste (FOGO), ahead of four other options.
Most respondents who supported the FOGO option (71%), also supported a proposal to change rubbish collection frequency from weekly to fortnightly.
The Committee heard that currently about 50% of the waste generated by the Rotorua community is diverted from landfill to beneficial purposes and the introduction of FOGO could potentially increase that to about 75%.
The targeted rate that would apply to FOGO being implemented is estimated at between $50 and $80 per household per year with the exact figure to be determined through procurement. Costings will come back to elected members for consideration as part of the next (2024 to 2034) Long-term Plan.
The intention is to roll the service out in the 2024/25 financial year, in Rotorua’s urban area only initially.
Go to p21 of the meeting agenda (see link below) to view the full report on this matter.
Infrastructure and Environment Committee - Rotorua Lakes Council
See links to related reports below:
- appendix-1-fogo-report-to-infrastructure-and-environment-committee-meeting-10-may-2023.pdf (PDF, 1.8MB)
- full-submission-catalogue-organic-waste-collection-infrastructure-and-environment-committee-12-may-2023.pdf (PDF, 4MB)
- organic-waste-comment-analysis-infrastructure-and-environment-committee-10-may-2023.pdf (PDF, 596.8KB)
Also on the agenda
- Council-controlled organisation (CCO) InfraCore presented its latest update report to the Committee. Go to p10 of the meeting agenda to view the report on this matter.
- The committee approved a change in sub-category of part of the Hulme Place local purpose reserve to roadway to enable housing. Go to p27 of the agenda to view the report on this matter.
- Contracts for Council’s new information system and the next stage of shared paths and stormwater renewals for Vaughan Road were dealt with in confidential.
View the full agenda and related attached reports on Council’s website at the link below.
Infrastructure and Environment Committee - Rotorua Lakes Council
Today’s meeting was livestreamed and you can view the recording via Council’s Youtube channel. Rotorua Lakes Council - YouTube