Committee meetings - preview and decisions
Community and District Development Committee preview for next week
Council’s Community and District Development Committee will next week be asked to approve starting the process to revoke the reserve classification of Council-owned road reserve at 10 Barnard Road to support development of a retirement village.
Summerset Retirement Villages has purchased land to the north of Barnard Road (currently occupied by the Rotorua Heritage Farm and 3D Trick Art Gallery) to develop a 270-unit retirement village and has requested use of the council road reserve to provide additional vehicle access, primarily for emergency services and deliveries. The main entrance would be off State Highway 5.
A report prepared for the Committee’s consideration notes that the 0.125 hectare site was vested in Council in 1957 when the larger parent lot was subdivided and was for the specific purpose of providing future vehicle access through to land to the north.
For Council to dispose of the land to Summerset, the reserve status must first be revoked, as set out in the Reserves Act 1977.
Following the revocation of the reserve status, Council would seek to dispose of the land directly to Summerset. This will require a subsequent decision of Council.
To safeguard access to the land, the Sale and Purchase Agreement would include a condition that provides Council with the first right of refusal to purchase the land, and/or a requirement for the land to be vested in Council as road, should the nature of the development or use of the land change in the future.
The process to revoke the status of the reserve and dispose of the land is likely to take a number of years. In the interim, a Licence to Occupy would be issued to Summerset to enable the development to be progressed. Alternative options to enable access will need to be explored if the revocation does not proceed for any reason.
Go to p25 of the meeting agenda to view the full report on this matter.
Also on the agenda
Development update: The committee will receive an update from the Peka Trust on the timetable and opportunities for its proposed Peka Block Development. The 633 hectares just south of Rotorua, has been zoned industrial for more than 30 years. Plans for industrial development were initiated in 2020 with a masterplan for the development of 13 hectares was completed with Council and Waka Kotahi involvement. Peka Lands Trust secured a $6m loan through the Government’s Regional Strategic Partnership Fund and Council's conditional commitment to providing water and wastewater infrastructure to the site was important to the loan application. Council intends to recover this growth investment over time through connection agreements or development contributions. With limited industrial zones available in Rotorua, transitioning from harvested land to an industrial park has been supported by Rotorua Lakes Council and RotoruaNZ. Go to p13 of the meeting agenda to see the report on this matter.
Deliberations on cemetery site proposal: The committee will deliberate on feedback received on the proposed change in purpose for part of the Rotorua Cemetery Reserve. Go to p17 of the meeting agenda to see the report on this matter and view the submissions received at the following link on Council’s website: ECM_19943639_v3_Attachment 1 Submission Catalgoue Redacted - Proposed change in purpose for Rotorua Cemetry Reserve (to report 19935868) (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
Progress reports: The committee will receive operational updates from the Community and District Development Group and Council’s Culture, Heritage and Mahi Toi teams in the Corporate Services Group. See pages 29 and 37 of the meeting agenda for the full operational updates.
View the full meeting agenda at the following link on Council’s website: ECM_19965394_v3_Community & District Development Committee 2023 09 SEP - CDDC - PUBLIC Agenda Community and District Development Committee Meeting 13 September 2023 (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
Next week’s meeting starts at 9.30am on Wednesday, 13 September 2023, 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
Infrastructure and Environment Committee wrap-up from this week
Yesterday Council’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee supported in principle the discussions underway between Ngāti Rangiwewehi and the Crown regarding the future ownership of Rewarewa Springs.
Ngāti Rangiwewehi recently wrote to Council advising that they are in discussions with the Crown for the return of ownership of Rewarewa Springs and requested an indication of Council’s support for those discussions.
Council has resource consent to take water from Rewarewa Springs, for the supply of water to homes in Hamurana and Kaharoa. The resource consent will expire in 2026 and Council is working with Ngāti Rangiwewehi to prepare an application for a new (replacement) consent for a 25-year term, which would allow the continued take of water for potable supply.
That work is progressing well, and has benefitted from the experience and strong working relationships that Council and Ngāti Rangiwewehi developed through the successful resource consent process for Te Puna a Pekehaua (Taniwha Springs), the report to the Committee says.
Ngāti Rangiwewehi have committed that if the land is returned to their ownership an easement would be granted to enable Council to continue to access the springs for water take.
The purpose of the report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee was to seek initial views from Council on the discussions.
Go to p25 of the meeting agenda to view the report on this matter.
Go directly to this part of the meeting recording via this link.
Air Quality presentation
Representatives from Bay of Plenty Regional Council, including staff and elected members, Kainga Ora and the Medical Officer of Health presented an update on the work of the Rotorua Air Quality Working Party.
There are currently two monitoring sites – Ngāpuna and Edmund Road – which show the Rotorua Air Shed having the worst air quality in the North Island with the main source of air pollution coming from home heating fires.
Yesterday’s presentation noted there have been air quality improvements since 2006 but low levels of air pollution are still present. The Committee was informed that air pollution is a public health issue that affects people throughout their lifetime with both short and long term impacts.
Under Central Government’s proposed amendments to the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ), the Rotorua AirShed will be significantly impacted due to high levels of wood smoke and not meeting proposed limits.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council is working on an updated Rotorua Air Quality action plan to meet the proposed changes in the NESAQ which will include new Rotorua emissions inventory for modelling of the AirShed with continued inter-agency collaboration.
View the presentation slides at this link on Council’s website.
Go directly to this part of the meeting recording via this link.
Operational updates
Council officers have written to the Ministry of Health, seeking further information as to the safety and/or legality of the Water Supplies Fluoridation Programme directive.
The Committee was also advised Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s (BOPRC) bus network refresh which will see changes to the existing Rotorua bus routes and infrastructure (bus stops). The bus network refresh will consolidate 11 routes into five with the removal of some CBD carparks required. BOPRC will engage with affected property owners soon with support from Rotorua Lakes Council.
The Committee received roading, three waters, environmental performance, emergency management and open spaces operational updates.
Go to p13 of the meeting agenda to view full report. Go directly to this part of the meeting recording via this link.
See the full agenda at the following link on Council’s website: public-agenda-infrastructure-and-environment-committee-meeting-6-september-2023.pdf (rotorualakescouncil.nz).
The meeting was livestreamed and the recording can be viewed via Council’s YouTube channel at this link: www.youtube.com/rotorualakescouncil