Council meeting wrap
Council has approved costs for Mayor Tania Tapsell to attend the 2024 NRL Indigenous All Stars event in Townsville, Australia, in February in support of a potential Rotorua bid to host further NRL events.
Rotorua hosted the NRL Indigenous All Stars games in February 2023 - the first time the games were held in New Zealand.
A business case seeking approval for the cost of flights and accommodation for Mayor Tapsell’s attendance in Townsville notes that Council’s agreement with the NRL for last year‘s event specifically provided the opportunity to negotiate a long-term partnership between the two organisations to enable Rotorua to host similar games in the future.
The Rotorua event contributed $2.9m in visitor spend and the event effectively paid for itself, with the council achieving a minor profit of about $6000. Over and above that, the event achieved significant visitor attraction and destination marketing outcomes the council would not otherwise be able to achieve.
Mayor Tapsell said the event in Rotorua was about much more than just a game and had economic, cultural and social benefits.
There was “a real richness” in the cultural exchanges that occurred during a vibrant week that also included hosting other fixtures including touch rugby and having the world's best players here was "hugely significant", she said.
The Mayor’s attendance at Townsville in 2024 aligns with Council priorities and would reinforce Rotorua’s desire to be considered for future hosting opportunities.
She was invited to attend by several NRL contacts who saw it as an opportunity to reconnect with the event and continue to build on the relationship established during the 2023 visit to Rotorua.
Mayor Tapsell explained the cost would total about $3000 and would not be a cost to ratepayers as it will be covered through income the council generates by hosting international delegations.
Go to p26 of the meeting agenda to view the report on this matter and go directly to this part of the meeting recording via THIS LINK.
Crankworx presentation
Rotorua Mountain Bike Limited, in which Rotorua Lakes Council is a shareholder, presented on how the Crankworx event for 2024 is tracking with CE Ariki Tibble presenting.
The Rotorua event celebrates its tenth year next year and Mr Tibble outlined a number of new and expanded events planned as part of Crankworx Rotorua 2024.
The event objectives, set in 2014, remain the same today, Mr Tibble explained – economic impact, destination marketing, community engagement and capability building, and putting on an event locals are proud of and visitors also love.
Crankworx has injected $34.5m into the local economy over nine years, Council heard.
View the presentation slides relating to this matter at THIS LINK on Council’s website and go directly to this part of the meeting recording via THIS LINK.
Also on the agenda . . .
Adoption of Annual Report for year ended 30 June 2023
Adoption of the annual report for the 2022/23 year has been delayed due largely to capacity issues being experienced by both Audit NZ and Rotorua Lakes Council. The matter will lay on the table until the final audit has been completed.
Go to p15 of the meeting agenda to view the report that was prepared for adoption of the report and go directly to this part of the meeting recording via THIS LINK.
Previously confidential items released
The minutes of two previously confidential decisions relating to the appointment of CCO board members and the minutes and report relating to a review of council pensioner housing have now been released.
Go to p17 of the meeting agenda to see the report on these matters.
Operational progress reports
Council received operational updates from the Corporate Services, Corporate Planning and Governance and Te Arawa Partnerships teams.
Go to p31 of the meeting agendato view the Corporate Services report, p41 of the meeting agendato view the Corporate Planning and Governance report and p49 of the meeting agendato view the Te Arawa Partnerships report.