Community and District Development Committee decisions
At this week’s Community and District Development Committee meeting Elected Members resolved to retain council-owned land at Titoki Place for potential use as sportsfields.
The Committee heard that following a 2019 decision to sell the land to Kāinga Ora for housing, investigations into development costs, risk and land valuations have made the land unviable as a space for future housing.
The resolution agreed to by Councillors directs staff to undertake work to determine the full cost of the potential development for sportsfields for consideration as part of the 2024-34 Long-term Plan. A 2023 assessment of council sports facilities has identified a shortfall of at least 29 hours per week (approximately 3 sportsfields) and this deficit is expected to increase. It was heard that the potential development of two new sportsfields could help to alleviate some of the pressure felt by local sports codes and that future discussions with those codes would need to take place.
Council purchased the 3.89 hectare site, which adjoins Ray Boord Park, from the Crown in January 2000 for the purpose of providing additional sporting facilities. The land has been used to stockpile removed fill from sports facility developments and in 2019 the then Council approved its disposal to Kāinga Ora, by Private Treaty, for the strategic objective of providing land for social housing.
Go to p23 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter: public-agenda-community-and-district-development-committee-meeting-9-august-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
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Council decision to go ahead with full closure of Rotorua Library on Sundays
Elected members voted in favour of fully closing Rotorua Library on Sundays which will achieve a cost saving of $104,000 per annum.
This outcome follows a recommendation to review and amend their previous Annual Plan decision to keep the library open on Sundays at reduced hours. It was heard that each year there are approximately 272,800 visits to the library each year, and 7.9% of visits occur on a Sunday.
The options presented to elected members included financial implications, as well as the impact on staff and current library users. The evaluation showed that opening for three hours, rather than a full closure on Sundays, reduces the anticipated $104,000 savings to just over $40,000 due to increased costs associated with opening, even for reduced hours, on Sundays.
Library staff have approached current Sunday users about rescheduling their activities to other days and are confident that all users will be accommodated on other weekdays. Library staff saw an opportunity to introduce Sunday users to other library services which are not available on Sundays, and to make efficiencies across services including the community meeting room.
Go to p31 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter: public-agenda-community-and-district-development-committee-meeting-9-august-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
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Other items on the agenda
Hearing of submissions on proposed change of purpose for Rotorua Cemetery Reserve:
Elected members heard from two submitters in relation to the proposed Change of Purpose for the Rotorua Cemetery reserve on Sala Street. Consultation on the proposal closed on Monday 8 August.
Go to p11 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter: public-agenda-community-and-district-development-committee-meeting-9-august-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
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Update from Council-controlled Organisations:
Fourth quarter updates were presented to the Committee by CCOs Rotorua Airport and RotoruaNZ.
It was heard that despite reduced aircraft movements, Rotorua Airport finished the year (July 22 – May 23) ahead of budget and were expecting to have strong financial results for the full 2022/2023 financial year. Looking ahead to 2024, Rotorua Airport will focus on strategic projects and continued discussions with AirNZ regarding flight schedules, growth and the reliability of the service for customers.
With the recent introduction of three new board members, RotoruaNZ has been assessing its current state and understand future opportunities. RotoruaNZ Board Chair Tim Cossar described general increase in the visitor market with a positive outlook for the coming summer season, and that now is the time for our community to be responding to our city’s brand challenges to make sure Rotorua remains a key destination for both domestic and international visitors.
Go to p14 of the meeting agenda to read the report from Rotorua Airport and p17 for the report from RotoruaNZ: Go to p23 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter: public-agenda-community-and-district-development-committee-meeting-9-august-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
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Operational reports
Elected Members received reports from staff updating them on progress for Council’s Community Wellbeing and District Development Groups.
District Development DCE Jean-Paul Gaston highlighted the progress made over the past year in reducing emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Since 2022 there has been an approximate 50% reduction in the number of unconsented motels providing emergency housing. This progress is aligned with Council’s ongoing regulatory approach to any change of use for accommodation providers.
Go to p36 of the meeting agenda to read the Community Wellbeing report and p45 for the report from District Development: Go to p23 of the meeting agenda to read the full report on this matter: public-agenda-community-and-district-development-committee-meeting-9-august-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
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Confidential matters:
Elected Members resolved to go into public excluded to discuss two matters, an item on CCO board appointments and an update on transformational projects.