$7000 hui revised after outcry from councillors

A $7000 hui on the introduction of Maori voting wards in Rotorua has been scaled back, after objections from councillors about the $2000 cost of a facilitator.

Former Te Arawa Maori Trust Board chairman Arapeta Tahana has been dropped from the role after an outcry led by Rotorua District councillors Mike McVicker and Glenys Searancke.

Mr Tahana was to be paid $2000 plus GST for running the hui, anticipated to last less than four hours. There were also concerns that finger food and a three-course meal were to be served.

The budget is now understood to be $3000.

Mr McVicker said he "breathed a sigh of relief" when he heard of the changes to the hui, to take place at the Tamatekapua meeting house in Ohinemutu on July 2.

Council chief executive Peter Guerin said the hui would still go ahead, although he declined to confirm that its revised budget was $3000.

"We just gave an indication of numbers of what it might cost [to the councillors]."

Mr Guerin said the council had never intended to include a three-course meal as part of the hui.

"It is just the same way we would host such a meeting. It's going to be just the normal hospitality one would expect on a marae."

This year the council is reviewing the way its members are voted in - including whether existing wards should be abolished and if community boards and Maori wards should be introduced.

- NZPA