Te Arawa Partnership review
Council will next week be asked to approve the establishment of a joint working party to review the Te Tatau o Te Arawa partnership agreement and to appoint Council representatives to the working party.
The partnership was established in 2015 following iwi and community consultation and the partnership agreement allows for reviews, a report for next week’s meeting notes.
It is proposed that a working party be established, consisting of 3 representatives (plus one alternate) appointed by the Te Arawa Partnership board, Te Tatau o Te Arawa, 3 representatives (plus one alternate) appointed by Council, and an independent facilitator (Leo Watson) to support the working party to carry out their role.
The working party would report back to Te Tatau and the Council with recommendations and a final decision on the recommendations would need to be agreed by both Council and Te Tatau.
After convening a hui for Te Arawa in November 2022, Te Tatau wrote to Council in March 2023 seeking a review of the Partnership Agreement and provided a set of recommendations. On 10 May 2023, the trustees of Te Tatau and Council met and discussed a working group to support a review.
Proposed Terms of Reference for the Working Party have been drafted and there has been discussion with Te Tatau o Te Arawa about these and the review process.
In addition to a Council decision on whether to accept the draft Terms of Reference, the Terms will also need to be approved by the trustees of Te Tatau o Te Arawa, the report to Council notes.
Go to p9 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter and to view the draft Terms of Reference.
Financial update (10 months to end of April)
Council’s operating position has continued to improve according to the latest update on Council’s financial performance for the 10 months to 30 April 2023.
The financial report prepared for next week’s Council meeting notes key operating challenges faced by the organisation which are having a significant impact, including costs associated with Emergency Housing, Plan Change 9, the impact of severe weather events and inflation.
The operating deficit as at 30 April 2023 is $526,000, down from $742,000 in March 2023. Within the $26.9m year-to-date deficit shown for March, $25.4m relates to the receipt of subsidies attached to capital projects and $995,000 relates to lower than budgeted capital revenue from developers, leaving $526,000 as the current operational deficit.
The financial report says staff remain committed to cost saving initiatives designed to deliver a full year operating result within the approved Annual Plan budget and controls remain in place to restrict expenditure for the remainder of the financial year. Any residual operational deficit will be offset against underspends in capital renewals, as was approved by Council in March.
Go to p15 of the meeting agenda to read the full financial report.
View the full agenda for next week’s meeting on Council’s website at the following link: public-agenda-council-meeting-31-may-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
Next Wednesday’s meeting will be held at 9.30am in the Council Chambers and is open to the public to attend.
The meeting will also be livestreamed and can be watched live or later via Council’s YouTube channel: Rotorua Lakes Council - YouTube
