Meeting on Lake Rotorua water quality to be open to public

Submissions on the proposed plan to improve Lake Rotorua's water quality have been released. Photo/File

A decision whether to accept recommendations on a proposed plan to improve Lake Rotorua's water quality will be made at a public meeting next week.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council has publicly released a report from an independent panel who heard submissions and evidence on the proposed Plan Change 10 and will consider its recommendations at its upcoming regional direction and delivery committee meeting in Rotorua next week.

The proposed Plan Change 10 to regional water and land has been in development since 2012 and aimed to introduce rules that limited the amount of nitrogen entering Lake Rotorua from land use to improve water quality.

Plan change decisions are usually conducted in a confidential session, however the council made the decision to have this discussion in public.

"We are aware that there is an extremely high level of interest in this report from the independent hearing panel," said committee chairwoman Paula Thompson.

The council said given the public interest the meeting would now be held in Rotorua

The development of the rules had been under way for three years and had included more than two years of public engagement and submissions. The formal statutory process commenced with the adoption and public notification of the final version of Plan Change 10 in February 2016, with independent hearings held between March and May 2017.

The independent hearing commissioners received submissions and evidence from more than 50 individuals, groups and organisations.

Commissioners spent two months deliberating on the proposed rule change, resulting in the recommendations report which had been released today.

Ms Thompson said the committee's upcoming decision was a formal part of the statutory process, and required councillors to maintain an open mind.

"Councillors must ensure that their consideration fairly and evenly addresses the report's content and recommendations as they stand, and they are not able to consider any additional information that has not been part of this statutory process - whether this be from submitters, stakeholders or other parties.

"We are happy to meet with interested parties once the statutory process is complete and from there will determine the next steps."

The regional direction and delivery committee meeting will be held on August 2 at 9.30am in the Baycrest Room at the Sudima Hotel in Rotorua. Members of the public are welcome to attend to listen to councillors consider these independent panel recommendations.