Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell and Rotorua Lakes Community Board member Peter MacMillan at the swearing-in ceremony for the new term on Wednesday. Photo / Mathew Nash
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell and Rotorua Lakes Community Board member Peter MacMillan at the swearing-in ceremony for the new term on Wednesday. Photo / Mathew Nash
Dates for a byelection to fill two vacant seats on the Rotorua Lakes Community Board have been confirmed, with current members hoping votes will be cast for the first time in six years.
Only three candidates came forward for a place on the four-seat board in the local bodyelections, which wrapped up last month.
Electoral officer for Rotorua Lakes Council Warwick Lampp said byelection candidate nominations for the remaining two seats open on November 24 and close on December 22.
If only two people came forward, they will automatically be elected to join Rothwell and MacMillan.
Any more than two will mean an election is needed, with voting open from January 30 to March 3 next year, Lampp said.
Former Rotorua Lakes Community Board chairman Phill Thomass, who died in September. Photo / Laura Smith
The board, established in 2007 to represent rural lakeside communities such as Hamurana, Rotoiti, Rotoehu, Rotoma, Ōkāreka and Tarawera, acts as a conduit with Rotorua Lakes Council.
In 2022, the only four candidates were automatically elected, meaning no votes have been cast for the board since 2019, when seven challengers vied for the four seats.
MacMillan said the lack of voting had occasionally made him feel like “a fraud”.
“I’ve never had an election, which is quite sad for democracy,” he said.
Standing for the Lakes Community Board is about “supporting the people who live in our area,” he said, with a strong focus on water quality and flood management.
Being on the board gives residents a direct line to the council, helping local issues get noticed, he said.
“That’s how I see it. As a way to really help your community rather than just complain.”
Rothwell battled to an election win in 2019 but was an unopposed byelection winner in 2023 following the resignation of Stephanie George.
Rotorua Lakes Community Board member Jennifer Rothwell. Photo / Andrew Warner
“It would be really good if we get some people to throw their hat in the ring,” she said.
“It’s quite disappointing that nobody did for the elections, actually very disappointing.”
Rotorua Lakes councillor Fisher Wang was the council representative for the board last term.
He said board members are the “eyes and ears” for the lakes community and praised previous work on civil defence preparedness, funding for automated defibrillator devices and renovating community playgrounds and toilets.
“The working relationship the board have with council staff is crucial,” he said.
“They provide feedback on those more isolated pockets, those isolated communities, and just allow for that connection back to council.”
Rotorua’s deputy electoral officer Rick Dunn said voting will be postal and orange voting bins will be distributed to “suitable locations”.
He also confirmed that should they fail to receive two nominations for the vacancies, another byelection will not take place.
Instead, the community board may “determine by resolution” that “a person who is qualified to be elected” is appointed.
The board’s two vacancies are among 14 local government seats across the country that remain unelected, stretching from Whakatāne to Gore. Most of these are on community boards.
From 2025, the annual pay for a community board member has been set at $10,064 by the Remuneration Authority, with the chairperson’s set at $20,128.
Rotorua’s other community board, for rural constituents, was contested at the recent election, with Colin Guyton, Tina Marshall, Karen Forlong and Tina Rose elected.
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
