Housing sales up for debate

How candidates' names will appear on voting forms and the sale of surplus residential properties are among items on the agenda for the next Rotorua Lakes Council committee meeting.

The meeting of the strategy, policy and finance committee will be held tomorrow.

Also on the agenda are the lifting of the designation from the district plan of the controversial Rotorua Eastern Arterial roading project, a new spatial plan for the district, statements of intent for Rotorua Regional Airport and Rotorua Contracting, a review of economic development services and who should represent the council at the upcoming Local Government New Zealand conference.

According to an agenda report, the council has 10 residential properties it believes to be surplus to requirements that it wants to sell.

The properties, on Elizabeth St, King St, Pererika St and Ranolf St, were bought for the now defunct Victoria St Arterial roading project and are being rented.

"All of these properties have been offered back to original owners ... and none of the original owners wish to buy them," the report stated.

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If agreed to by councillors, the properties will go on to the market with the proceeds to be used to pay back council debt.

Councillors will also need to decide how candidates for this year's elections will be ordered on voting documents.

They have three options to choose from - alphabetical order, random order (each voting paper is different), or pseudo-random order (where the names are chosen randomly but appear the same on all voting papers).

According to the same agenda, the Rotorua Eastern Arterial designation is no longer required by the New Zealand Transport Agency and should be removed from the council's district plan.

"The transport studies conducted by NZTA and RLC demonstrates that upgrades on Te Ngae Rd can provide sufficient capacity to cater for the projected long-term growth," a report stated.

Also joining the meeting, with full voting rights, will be two members of the Te Tatau o Te Arawa Board elected by the iwi to represent them on council. They are Ana Morrison and Eugene Berryman-Kamp.

Strategy, policy and finance committee meeting:

* Meets in the Rotorua Lakes Council Chamber from 9.30am tomorrow

* Agenda can be found at www.rotorualc.nz

* Rotorua Eastern Arterial designation on the district plan to be lifted

* A proposal to sell off properties bought for the Victoria St Arterial will be discussed

* How candidates' names for election to council will appear on voting forms will be decided on

* Other agenda items include discussion of the council's new spatial plan and statements of intent for Rotorua airport and Rotorua Contracting