A Rotorua Lakes Council meeting on May 16 lost its quorum when councillor Trevor Maxwell (right) left, and five others were absent from the table for various reasons. Photo / RLC livestream
A Rotorua Lakes Council meeting on May 16 lost its quorum when councillor Trevor Maxwell (right) left, and five others were absent from the table for various reasons. Photo / RLC livestream
A Rotorua disability community advocate was left disappointed by councillor absences from a submission hearing which later had to pause because too few members were present.
The council says a quorum shortfall “happens very rarely”, and the mayor says the pause was brief and members had “valid reasons” to beabsent.
Including the mayor, Rotorua Lakes Council has 11 elected members, and needs six to participate in a meeting to meet the quorum, or minimum legally required.
Last month, the council held a two-day hearing of feedback from submitters on its draft Annual Plan for 2025/26.
Most councillors were there on the first day, minutes noting apologies from councillors Gregg Brown and Fisher Wang, and that Rawiri Waru did not attend.
Minutes recorded apologies on the second day for absences by Brown, Waru and Lani Kereopa. Apologies for lateness were also accepted from Robert Lee and Sandra Kai Fong.
Kai Fong chaired the hearing in the afternoon as Mayor Tania Tapsell moved to join online.
The minutes recorded that first Tapsell (2.34pm), then Lee (3pm), then Trevor Maxwell (3.13pm) left the meeting.
At this point, Kai Fong paused to resolve a “glitch”, explaining to the person submitting that she needed to make sure there were enough councillors. The livestream audio paused for a minute and a half.
The minutes showed Tapsell and Lee rejoined and the meeting continued.
Disability community advocate Roger Loveless was among submitters that day. He presented to six councillors in chambers and two online, and said he was disappointed by that showing.
He had sympathy for the council, however, given how many scheduled submitters did not turn up, delaying the meeting’s progress.
Local Democracy Reporting asked the council when there was last a quorum shortfall. A spokesperson said it did not keep such records but it “happens very rarely”.
“Best efforts are made to schedule council matters on dates that do not clash with other known commitments, but previously unplanned events can impact elected members’ ability to attend.”
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell in a March 2025 meeting. Photo / Laura Smith
Tapsell said she had arranged for Kai Fong to chair “a short portion of the afternoon” so she could prepare for an event committed to before the hearing date was set.
She said it was rare to lose a quorum and noted there was only a few minutes’ pause until Lee returned.
She encouraged councillors to notify her of any leave at the start of the year or as soon as they were aware they needed it.
“A number of councillors were away for valid reasons, however all are expected to have read the submissions before we make any decision.”
Councillor Trevor Maxwell in a March 2025 meeting. Photo / Laura Smith
Maxwell said when he left the hearing - and the quorum was lost - it was the only time he was not present, and he had needed to pick up his grandchildren from school. Maxwell said he had tried to find someone to help without success.
Lee said he actually left chambers during the 2.42pm break, which the livestream supported.
He said he spoke to an earlier submitter during that time, who was a Lake Tarawera Working Group committee member, to hear more of his concerns. He found this “informative and helpful”.
Lee did not return when the hearing resumed. He said he did not know the mayor and Maxwell had left, but returned immediately when a staff member came for him.
Councillor Robert Lee at a March council meeting. Photo / Laura Smith
“While not ideal that I missed a couple of presentations, it was not wasted on any frivolous matter.”
Lee said he later watched the video of the two submissions he missed, which helped inform his voting and, in his eyes, “no harm was done”.
He believed he had 100% attendance for prior long-term and annual plan hearings.
“I am aware of at least two other councillors who took holidays during the entirety of the public hearings.”
He referred to Don Paterson, who was away for last year’s Long-Term Plan hearings, and Brown this year.
Brown said he applied for and received leave for all of May.
Paterson said he missed last year’s hearings to travel to Italy for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, where his father served – a trip he originally booked for 2020, but that hit Covid complications.
He said he was supplied with the submissions and relevant papers, “so I could participate fully in the subsequent decision-making process”.
Councillor meeting attendance records in the 2024 Annual Report show rates of between 79% (Paterson) and 100% (Tapsell, Brown, Karen Barker) for full council meetings and 83% (Paterson, Maxwell, Waru) to 100% (Tapsell, Brown, Wang, Barker) for committee meetings.
Councillor attendance as shown in the Rotorua Lakes Council 2024 Annual Report. Photo / Rotorua Lakes Council
Other councils’ meetings were stalled or halted during heated debates and councillor walk-outs.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
