Don Paterson speaks at the Grey Power candidate meeting at the Arawa Bowling Club. Photo / Mathew Nash
Don Paterson speaks at the Grey Power candidate meeting at the Arawa Bowling Club. Photo / Mathew Nash
Local body elections are under way and five hopefuls are vying for Rotorua’s top job. Local Democracy Reporting quizzed the mayoral candidates about key issues before the October 11 election.
Mayoral candidate Don Paterson wants Rotorua Lakes Council to start thinking outside the box when it comes to tourism, development,community engagement and revenue.
The councillor believed Rotorua had “stagnated” since the council helped the city recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022.
Now, he says, is the time to “get it moving” again.
“Nothing has changed since 2022,” said Paterson. “All we’ve done is carry on with the big projects left to us by the previous council. Most of those are nearly finished, so what’s the next step for Rotorua?”
Tourism is central to his campaign. Paterson called it the city’s “biggest industry” but said more work was needed for international visitors to return in the same numbers as domestic travellers.
He pointed to golf tourism as a high-end drawcard, highlighting Arikikapakapa’s geothermal course, and said Rotorua’s stories could be turned “into silver screen productions” - tapping into New Zealand’s recent film industry successes, with projects such as A Minecraft Movie and Chief of War.
Arikikapakapa Golf Course. Photo / NZME
“It’s about creating demand,” he said, adding that stronger attractions could help secure international routes at Rotorua Airport, with India, Turkey and Australia all possibilities.
“High-end tourists are prepared to spend money on lodges and hospitality. Meanwhile, we’ve already got actors like Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison from here. It’s just a matter of making it happen.”
Paterson believed the Rotorua Museum had to become a “must-see” attraction to help close the roughly $8m funding gap for restoring its exhibition space. Corporate sponsorship could be part of the answer, he suggested.
“We may not be the biggest, but we could have the best collection of authentic Māori taonga anywhere in the country. Someone would want their name next to that.”
He supports contracting a specialist fundraiser to “go and hunt” the money needed to ensure the museum opening stayed on track, with a tentative reopening date of 2027.
Rotorua Museum. Photo / Laura Smith
On rates, Paterson warned against relying only on caps.
“It’s all very well to say we’ll cap rates at 5%, but how will we pay our debt? Bills are growing because of legacy projects that have to be completed.
“Council–private partnerships are another option. In Hamilton, they’ve had massive new projects in the CBD through developers. Why can’t we do that?”
He cited the courthouse site, the old post office and the nursery – which is set to close its retail arm but which Paterson believed could be “a money-making enterprise” in the right hands.
Rotorua Lakes Council's nursery on Queen's Drive. Photo / NZME
Paterson highlighted potential changes to how the council connects with its community.
He proposed putting all councillors “on the same footing”, giving each responsibility for two committees and requiring regular meetings with local groups.
“By building on what we already have as a community and working together, we can achieve a lot more than just relying on ratepayer funds,” he said. “Otherwise, in three years, we’ll be in the same boat.”
Overall, Paterson is calling for a shift in style and substance.
“If we keep doing the same things over and over, we’ll keep getting the same results,” he said.
“I believe we should be aiming much higher, and we can if we just change our approach.”
Voting closes on October 11.
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.
