Council meeting mostly confidential

The majority of an upcoming meeting of the Rotorua Lakes Council will be held behind closed doors.

The council will meet tomorrow from 9.30am in the council chamber to discuss the approval of five confidential items and four public recommendations brought to it from its two committees - Strategy, Policy and Finance and Operations and Monitoring.

According to the meeting agenda the public items, that have already been discussed and voted on in committee meetings, will be formally agreed on by councillors.

Those items are a four-year partnership with Cycling New Zealand to establish the National Mountain Biking Performance Hub in Rotorua, the adoption of the council's Seismic Policy and Risk Reduction framework for council-owned buildings, the council's draft Sustainable Living Strategy and a new council-controlled organisation - Rotorua Economic Development Ltd's - statement of intent.

Items to be discussed confidentially will be the Taniwha Springs water supply, a "strategic property purpose", a property sale, pensioner housing investment and the appointment of board members for Rotorua Economic Development Ltd.

The agenda stated the reasons for going into the confidential session were to protect sensitive commercial information, protect the privacy of people being spoken about and to allow councillors to conduct "free and frank" discussions.