16 June 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Reserves proposal consultation
Enquiry
I understand as of recently the council has indeed extended the time frame for consultation on the proposal.
If that is indeed the case, these are the revised questions:
- When were letters about the proposal sent out?
- Why did the council extend the time frame? What led to the decision? Who made the decision?
- Will the council consider allowing oral submissions on the proposal? Why / why not? Would this require a resolution or could it be decided at discretion?
- Is the council confident residents will have enough time, now the deadline has been extended, from receiving letters to consider the proposal and any submission on it? Why / why not?
I've been speaking with Vern Bates, a Gallagher St resident, about his concerns re the reserves proposal, and I'm writing a story about it.
I also have the letter he sent the mayor and councillors outlining his concerns.
I have some of his comments to provide to the council and mayor for the right of reply if either wishes to take the opportunity.
COMMENTS:
Kia ora Councillor,
We live on Gallagher Street near the Gallagher street reserve that RLC is proposing to revoke.
We have not had a letter as promised from the council explaining this and how to make submissions.
Why have we not received our letter as promised by the council on May 26 meeting? It has been almost 2 weeks since the council said we would receive these letters and leaves only just over 2 weeks until submissions close. Many people are still not even aware of this proposal to sell our reserves - Is that fair and reasonable to you?
The council have not honoured their self imposed rules in this process and I would like to know why letters were not sent out immediately 2 weeks ago, straight after the meeting on May 26. I ask that we have at least two more weeks added on to the submission end date to make it fair for everyone involved.
Further to this, at the May 26 meeting it was decided by the mayor and council that the public would not be allowed to be heard in a public consultation meeting. Is this a deliberate move by the mayor and council to deny us residents any say in what happens to our reserves? Do you not want to hear what we have to say? It sure feels that way to us here. I demand that the council allocate enough time after written submissions close, to have a public meeting where we can all have our say in person to ensure we are heard on this incredibly important reserve revocation bill. If council refuse to have a fully open and transparent public meeting, it shows to me that the council have no mandate to go any further with this bill and it should be scrapped immediately and other options fully explored.
I hope all councillors realise the huge interest and opposition to this reserves revocation bill. Everyone I talk to is furious that this is being steamrolled through with little regard for us residents. You are all elected officials representing us residents, we are not being represented fairly at all in this bill, and actually it feels like us residents are being intentionally ignored.
Please support us - dont ignore us
Nga mihi,
Vern Bates
--
A lot of us residents are getting treated with contempt by the mayor and some councillors. Some of our biggest concerns are:
There is only one month for submissions
Oral submissions are not allowed ( At last meeting,J P Gaston and Oonagh Hopkins were very evasive about why)
A letter is going out to residents within 300, 400 or 500 mtrs of a reserve (not sure which as they seemed to mumble that bit)
The letter council said were being sent out hasn't arrived to some residents after two weeks
The mayor wants to fast track the normal revocation process (is this even legal?)
...
There are many other concerns e.g. the secrecy around this ( we rang council several times as we had heard rumours and they said no no no we are not doing anything with the reserves. Everything the mayor has done around this revocation bill has been devious and biased towards govt help and now all we get is spin that it is a great idea and if we dont agree we are un-empathetic towards the homeless.
Response
From CE Geoff Williams:
We have received feedback from the community that people would like more time to submit and that some would like to have their feedback heard and we are considering this and how it could be accommodated. We hope to be able to let the community know next week.
Info:
5776 letters were sent to owners of properties close to identified reserve sites. These were put in the post on Tuesday 31 May.
The council has received about 155 submissions so far.
Anyone who wishes to make a submission is welcome to do so – it is not limited to those who were sent letters.
Information about the proposal and how to give feedback is available on Council’s website, see the ‘Reserves Proposal’ link on the home page or use the direct link: rotorualakescouncil.nz/reservesproposal
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Compliance re motels providing emergency housing
Enquiry
I've heard from MHUD that Emerald Spa and Tuscany Villas (and potentially Four Canoes, although have asked MHUD to clarify this) do not have resource consent to operate as emergency housing motels and there's no current application process under way. They have said:
“The Council and the Ministry have focused on prioritising the consent applications for the 12 motels in the first instance, but we appreciate further discussion about another two motels we engaged to house people as part of the Covid-19 lockdown response may need to happen."
Can I please ask if the council is taking action against these three motels as it is the other non-contracted motels to be compliant with the district plan?
If not, why not? Can someone at the council please specifically answer why these three motels are being treated differently?
Response
From DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston:
As we have previously said, we are taking a staged approach to ensuring compliance. In terms of those establishments which MHUD has contracted, we are dealing with the consent applications for those providing emergency housing first.
MHUD provided the following comment to the reporter which was the basis of today’s questions following the response we provided yesterday:
“The Council and the Ministry have focused on prioritising the consent applications for the 12 motels in the first instance, but we appreciated further discussion about another two motels we engaged to house people as part of the Covid-19 lockdown response will need to happen.
“As part of the work of the Taskforce, we are in regular discussion with the Council over concerns about how Emergency Housing and Transitional Housing for people in urgent need is delivered so that it can operate within the District Plan.
“We’re also focused on ensuring that people requiring emergency housing are supported with the appropriate wraparound support that brings stability to families and in particular vulnerable children and rangitahi as we work with the Council, Kāinga Ora and others to continue to increase the supply of affordable homes in Rotorua.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Inner city revitalisation
Initial enquiry
Re this LGOIMA response [see HERE] I am writing a story based on this information and have some questions for the council regarding it.
- Did the council and or mayor receive a response to the letter, memo and presentation from Ministers Faafoi or Nash? If so - can you please provide it.
- Re moving the court house to 1188 - 1196 Haupapa St / 1191 Pukuatua St - JP mentions in his memo the "opportunity" with it may be lost if not acted on. Has it been lost? Are the plans still in motion? Has the Government expressed any opinion either way to the council on the proposal?
- Please describe the idea behind the 'dynamic and vibrant civic plaza', giving details.
- Please describe the idea behind the 'park-to-park link', giving details, including how it might affect pedestrians, vehicles/roads and existing building (besides the court house).
- Re page 24, top right: Could you please clarify what was meant by 'City Focus' it's located where Te Manawa is in the diagram. Is the council considering removing Te Manawa, or perhaps moving it to the proposed civic plaza? If removing/relocating it - can you please expand on why (given it is five years old)?
- Has the council costed any of these plans (eg park to park link, civic plaza etc) and if so what is that projected cost? Has the council considered where it would be funded from? If so, from what - rates? Private partnerships? Government? etc.
- Why has this proposal and its ideas - such as moving the court house to Pukuatua St, the park-to-park link, the civic plaza - not been discussed in public? Has it been discussed in council forums? Why there and not in council / committee meetings?
I am after a response by Thursday midday please.
Thanks very much
Response
The following information and comment was provided:
Did the council and or mayor receive a response to the letter, memo and presentation from Ministers Faafoi or Nash? no If so - can you please provide it.
Re moving the court house to 1188 - 1196 Haupapa St / 1191 Pukuatua St - JP mentions in his memo the "opportunity" with it may be lost if not acted on. Has it been lost? Are the plans still in motion? Has the Government expressed any opinion either way to the council on the proposal?
You would need to speak to the Department of Justice about this.
Please describe the idea behind the 'dynamic and vibrant civic plaza', giving details.
From DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston: There is no detailed plan as yet but the high level idea is to create another public space in the CBD, adding to existing spaces like Te Manawa, the park at Te Aka Mauri and the lakefront.
Please describe the idea behind the 'park-to-park link', giving details, including how it might affect pedestrians, vehicles/roads and existing building (besides the court house).
From DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston: There is no detailed plan at this stage.
Re page 24, top right: Could you please clarify what was meant by 'City Focus' it's located where Te Manawa is in the diagram. Is the council considering removing Te Manawa, or perhaps moving it to the proposed civic plaza? If removing/relocating it - can you please expand on why (given it is five years old)?
Felix, that’s an old file image of previous plan to redevelop what was formerly known as the City Focus and was then re-named Te Manawa. As you know that was done.
Has the council costed any of these plans (eg park to park link, civic plaza etc) and if so what is that projected cost? Has the council considered where it would be funded from? If so, from what - rates? Private partnerships? Government? etc.
From DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston: There is no detailed plan to cost.
Why has this proposal and its ideas - such as moving the court house to Pukuatua St, the park-to-park link, the civic plaza - not been discussed in public? Has it been discussed in council forums? Why there and not in council / committee meetings?
This has been discussed publicly but there is no detailed proposal as yet.
What we have so far – which was presented during July 2021 O&M meeting – and is being used to hold discussions with key stakeholder groups, is a high level framework to provide the basis for development of a detailed plan to take out to our community for feedback.
Work on key foundational pieces that need to be done before a proposed plan can be completed is ongoing. This includes cultural foundations.
The first foundational piece was a review of all inner city plans going back to 2006 to identify key aspects and commonalities and to reconfirm our objectives and direction for CBD revitalisation. This was done to provide a high level framework as the starting point for discussion and development of a proposed plan.
[so Felix the framework includes the concepts like the plaza and park-to-park corridor but it is not ‘the plan’ for the inner city – it is being used as the basis for development of a plan]
Work on an inner city plan is part of the Draft Economic Development Strategy (EDS) Framework and our 2021-31 Long-term Plan.
Plans for the inner city will form part of the action plan for the wider Central Area which has been identified as a priority development area.
[Felix the Central Area includes the CBD plus the area bounded by Sala St/Puarenga to the east and by Old Taupo Rd to the west, and including Fenton/Glenholme]
It is intended that as the two are linked, the draft priority area plan for the Central Area, which will include a draft plan for the inner city, will go out for community consultation at the same time as the Intensification Plan Change (Plan change 9) which is scheduled to be notified in August this year.
Further information for you
See below links to July 2021 O&M meeting when JP presented on the CBD revitalisation framework (maybe you missed that meeting), along with what has been on RLC website and information that has been provided to local media. I’m sure the Daily Post ran a story in July 2021 but I’ve not been able to find it although I’m sure you can find it in the RDP files.
July 2021:
District Development DCE Jean-Paul Gaston gave a high level overview of the CBD revitalisation planning at July 2021 O&M meeting – see here
That update included a presentation and if you go to that here you will see slide 3 showing an image of the CBD footprint with an East to West connection highlighted in green. This is referred to as a proposed ‘green belt’ and JP explains the high level thinking around that at about minute 2:03:40 of the livestream footage.
From March 2021 Operational report:
DCA architects have undertaken a review of all inner city revitalisation plans and initiatives from 2006 to 2020. Their report identifies the key objectives which shape the long-term framework for inner city development. This framework will form the basis of a new plan and the development of a coherent set of projects and policy interventions. Introducing the framework and seeking the input from mana whenua is the next step before a revised approach is shared more widely.
July 2021 O&M meeting coverage on RLC website:
Committee hears updates on CBD plan process and housing - Rotorua Lakes Council
Presentation given by JP Gaston at July 2021 O&M: PowerPoint Presentation (rotorualakescouncil.nz)
Info provided to Daily Post July 2021:
The above info and links re JP’s presentation was provided along with comments below ...
From Deputy Chief Executive, District Development, Jean-Paul Gaston:
Work on foundational pieces that will help guide the development of a refreshed revitalisation plan for Rotorua’s CBD are underway and will be encompassed within the wider CBD priority area work.
A CBD plan is part of the Rotorua Economic Development Strategy Framework that was approved by Council last December and was identified as a key action by the CBD sector group that was established last year to consider economic recovery strategies (following the 2020 lockdown).
There are several key pieces of work that need to be completed before a proposed plan can be developed:
working with mana whenua and Te Arawa on cultural foundations;
development of an inner city design guide for urban development (the initial step for which is establishing the cultural foundations and Te Arawa values and principles that will inform the future form of the inner city);
working on an incentives policy to encourage commercial and residential development in the inner city.
A steering group will lead and assist with work related to works 1 and 2 (above) and work has started towards an initial exploratory workshop with the Rotorua Business Chamber to explore options for the incentives policy work.
Another key foundational piece, that has been completed, is a review of all previous CBD plans to extract elements that have been consistent across these to provide a framework as a starting point for a new plan.
The high level framework has been shared with some key stakeholders and partners and there will be further and wider engagement and consultation in future, once a viable proposed plan has been developed.
The previously completed CBD functionality review (looking at the CBD transport network), which had a focus on supporting inner city revitalisation, will also form part of considerations for development of a plan.
Meanwhile our CCO Rotorua Economic Development Ltd (RED) has been working on attracting development/investment that will support inner city living.
Info provided to another NZME reporter in October 2021:
From Deputy Chief Executive, District Development, Jean-Paul Gaston:
Work on foundational pieces that will help guide the development of a refreshed revitalisation plan for Rotorua’s CBD are underway.
A CBD plan is part of the Rotorua Economic Development Strategy Framework that was approved by Council last December and was identified as a key action by the CBD sector group that was established last year to consider economic recovery strategies (following the 2020 lockdown).
There are several key pieces of work that need to be completed before a proposed plan can be developed:
working with mana whenua and Te Arawa on cultural foundations;
development of an inner city design guide for urban development (the initial step for which is establishing the cultural foundations and Te Arawa values and principles that will inform the future form of the inner city);
working on an incentives policy to encourage commercial and residential development in the inner city.
A steering group will lead and assist with work related to works 1 and 2 (above) and work has started towards an initial exploratory workshop with the Rotorua Business Chamber to explore options for the incentives policy work.
Another key foundational piece, that has been completed, is a review of all previous CBD plans to extract elements that have been consistent across these to provide a framework as a starting point for a new plan.
The high level framework has been shared with some key stakeholders and partners and there will be further and wider engagement and consultation in future.
The previously completed CBD functionality review (looking at the CBD transport network), which had a focus on supporting inner city revitalisation, will also form part of considerations for development of a plan.
Meanwhile our CCO Rotorua Economic Development Ltd (RED) is processing applications received through an expressions of interest (EOI) process seeking landowners and developers/investors who want to undertake projects in the inner city that support inner city living.
There was a good level of interest and ideas from both local and out-of-town developers and we are now undertaking due diligence and assessing the expressions of interest received. [Carmen, see more info for you below re this below]
We provided info from RLC website from September Council meeting re RED extended role to work on transformational placemaking projects to support inner city living
The same info as above was provided to another NZME reporter in Dec 2021
RDP story Nov 2021:
Rotorua tipped to get new purpose-built courthouse, but when and where? - NZ Herald
See this link for information provided in response to a Rotorua Daily Post enquiry.
Subsequent enquiry
Thanks for all this.
I've read through it all carefully and re-watched the meeting, which I was at and remember well. Indeed, the inner city revitalisation plan has been discussed for a long time - many times indeed - however, I am asking about the details which the LGOIMA revealed.
Unfortunately, nowhere in any of these is a mention of:
- The idea of moving the court house to the TALT location
- A civic plaza in the court house's current location
- A sculpture (there's been discussion of cultural foundation, nothing as specific as a sculpture)
JP did briefly mention the park to park link in that O+M meeting, but it lacked much of the detail that was in the LGOIMA. As we know that memo to the ministers was sent in May, the meeting was in July. The presentation in the public meeting did not use a lot of the slides in the presentation sent to the ministers. Indeed, JP mentions how familiar elected members will be of the diagram from "workshops". The RDP story on the court house shows Kelly asked for details on the green belt/park to park link and was referred back to the O+M meeting.
Hence it appears the detail of ideas surrounding the inner city revitalisation work has been discussed in workshops, but not in public.
Let me know if the council would like to change its comment regarding whether this proposal and its ideas - ie the proposal to the ministers and the ideas presented to the ministers in the attached presentation to them - has been discussed in public - in light of this. If so, the deadline for that revised comment will be 3pm at the latest.
I also wondered if the council wanted to revise its comment about whether the opportunity had been lost re the TALT location. The ministers cannot answer this, it was JP's contention to them.
Let me know either way.
Response to subsequent enquiry
From Mr Gaston:
The ideas included in the framework that resulted from the review of all of our previous inner city plans are still just ideas which are being explored to come up with a draft plan with more detail that we can then take to the community for feedback.
The framework has been tested with some key stakeholder groups including mana whenua and the business community and we are now working on the priority area plan which will provide a wider set of thinking to incorporate into a draft plan for consultation.
Regarding the courthouse: That was an opportunity RLC encouraged MOJ to consider. We have not had an update. You will need to go to the Ministry re latest.