Mayor's Letter - Milbrow Estate Fast-Track application

Response:

Subject: Official Information Request - Mayor's 17 December 2025 Letter in Support of the Proposed Milbrow Estate Fast-Track Application

I refer to your Official Information request of 13 October 2026, for information regarding Mayor's 17 December 2025 Letter in Support of the Proposed Milbrow Estate Fast-Track Application.

Questions:

1. The dated written advice, briefing or correspondence available to the Mayor's office and relied upon for the statement about local iwi support in the 17 December 2025 letter, including the identity of any organisation concerned. Please protect any legitimately confidential information according to law.
2. The Council officer or legal/planning advice concerning the particular private plan-change process described in that letter, and its interaction with Plan Stop, held or received by 17 December 2025.
3. The Council engineering advice or briefing available to the Mayor's office by 17 December 2025 concerning the proposed Milbrow connection to the Hamurana Sewerage Scheme, including any qualifications to feasibility or necessary upgrading.
4. Any written correction, addendum or update subsequently sent by or on behalf of the Mayor or Council to the Minister or Fast-track officials specifically clarifying these three matters, up to 31 August 2026.

Answer:

By way of context, the 17 December 2025 letter was prepared in response to a request from the applicant seeking support for its proposed fast-track application and was provided by the Mayor to the Minister responsible for the Fast-track Approvals process. The purpose of the letter was to express broad support for a housing development proposal that was represented as contributing to Rotorua's housing supply objectives. Council was not the decisionmaker for the fast-track process and did not have a regulatory role in determining the merits of the application.

Our understanding is that a number of the matters referred to in the letter were informed by a pre-application meeting with the GM, Destination Development and the request for a letter of support was subsequently conveyed to the Mayor, rather than by formal Council reports, Council decisions, or independently commissioned Council advice, for example:

• Statements relating to iwi support were understood to reflect verbal feedback on Cultural Impact Assessment work provided by the applicant at the time.
• References to a potential plan change pathway arose from informal discussions regarding planning options. No proposal was advanced for formal Council consideration or decision.
• Comments regarding sewer servicing reflected a general understanding that connection to the existing Hamurana Sewerage Scheme may be feasible, rather than a detailed engineering assessment prepared for the purposes of the Mayor's letter.

Council has not identified any information that falls within the scope of your request. Accordingly, Council refuses your request under section 17(e) of the LGOIMA ‘that the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist.’

In light of the above, and having reviewed the information held by Council, Council does not propose to issue a correction, addendum, or replacement of the Mayor's letter. The letter was intended to convey the Mayor's support for the proposal based on information available and discussions occurring at the time, rather than to provide a formal Council assessment or determination of the matters addressed in the letter.