Process to decide on elections

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait

The way Rotorua elects its council and community boards will hinge on the outcome of an official public submission process to be held later this year.

Stage one of the Rotorua Lakes Council's Your Choice 2016 Election Review has been completed with more than 200 completed survey forms received.

The review began by informally asking Rotorua residents what arrangements people think should apply for next year's local government elections.

Questions including how many councillors there should be in the future, whether councillors should be elected by wards or "at-large" and whether there should be community boards were asked so council staff could put together a formal proposal to release for public consultation.

To do this a working party, made up of chairwoman and councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, and councillors Charles Sturt and Tania Tapsell, along with community representatives Aroha Bray, Brian Eagle and Jill Nicholas, was organised to collect and assess initial thoughts from the community.

Mrs Raukawa-Tait said the Your Choice 2016 Election Review survey wrapped up last week but the data was yet to be fully analysed.

"That work will be undertaken over the next week or so by council staff and then presented to our working party members to work their way through," she said.

"However, it's important to note that the survey isn't a poll and the responses aren't formal submissions; that's for later in the process.

"Survey results will be considered alongside other information we've been gathering from meetings with community organisations, a number of hui, discussions with special interest groups and attending public events like the Night Market and Kuirau Park Saturday market."

She said the working party had been impressed by what they had heard from the public.

"My colleagues on the working party have been very active in getting around the traps and talking to people from all walks of life and I'm very grateful for their hard work and open-minded approach.

It is expected that council staff will develop recommendations to go before a council meeting scheduled for August 26.

From there the council will decide on its preferences and go out to the public for a formal consultation and submission process.

"They will need to decide on arrangements for the 2016 local government election by November 12. Those decisions will then be open to an appeal process, and any appeals lodged will be considered and decided on by the Local Government Commission by April next year," Mrs Raukawa-Tait said.