The Rotorua Night Market and how to pay for Lake Tarawera's new sewerage pipe were popular Annual Plan submission topics. Composite photo / NZME
The Rotorua Night Market and how to pay for Lake Tarawera's new sewerage pipe were popular Annual Plan submission topics. Composite photo / NZME
Ninety-nine Rotorua ratepayers are set to address the council on decisions including sewerage scheme funding and the night market’s future.
Rotorua Lakes Council received 404 public submissions on its draft Annual Plan 2025/26, and will hear from those who wanted to make a verbal submission today and tomorrow.
The draft plan offered options to reduce their load by asking $1m or $4m more from general Rotorua ratepayers.
Many submissions supported the $4m option, which would lower Tarawera households’ costs the most.
Among them were Bruce Smith and Anna Stewart-Smith, whose grandchildren were the fifth generation to enjoy their Tarawera family home.
Stewart-Smith’s grandfather purchased land at the lake after World War II, having visited it before.
Lake Tarawera near Rotorua. Photo / Laura Smith
“We are not wealthy as so many label us. But fortunate.”
She said her family lived as kaitiaki, caring for the land to ensure “its attributes are preserved for future generations”.
“While its protection is the responsibility of all ratepayers, we see that as lake residents, we need to pay for the benefits to our property.”
Others echoed their desire to see cost reduced, having seen estimates escalate over the years. They shared affordability and consultation process concerns, and how Tarawera residents paid rates but did not have perks such as footpaths and street lights other areas had.
At the other end of the opinion spectrum were submitters who believed the scheme should be user-pays, with no extra general ratepayer funding.
One submitter wanting to increase funding by $1m said it was fair that others contributed as all benefitted from improved lake quality.
Former councillor Dr Reynold Macpherson submitted on a range of issues and points for Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers (RDRR).
Reynold Macpherson submitted on behalf of Rotorua Residents and Ratepayers Association. Photo / Andrew Warner
The group “cautiously” support an extra $1m as the “fairest balance between benefiting Tarawera property owners and shared environmental responsibility”.
The submission labelled the draft rates rise “unjustified” and debt levels “alarming”.
The council had a net debt of $466m in March. It predicted debt in 2025/26 would be 199% of revenue, under its 250% ceiling.
The group wanted the council to stop subsidising the night market entirely, and to instead donate it to a charity by tender.
“[The] council shouldn’t fund nonessential businesses amid acute financial pressures on ratepayers”.
Rotorua’s 15-year-old weekly night market in Tūtānekai St costs about $200,000 to run year-round.
The council considered scaling it back to half a year, changing the location, or having someone else run it with council sponsorship.
One submission asking for it to stay the same said it was well-attended and changing it would impact vendors.
Stall holder Sahar Basir wrote that many vendors were upset at the potential for change.
Shortening it would result in job losses, the current location had good foot traffic, and a new operator would change things such as what vendors paid.
“It is the only event that provides nightlife for Rotorua residents and is one of the most famous attractions for tourists from around the world.”
Submitter David Townsend believed half-yearly was practical as there were fewer tourists around during winter.
Robert Okell said the night market was a business that should be managed by someone else.
Councillors will deliberate on May 28 and will adopt the plan on June 25.
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.
